


Lights Will Guide You Home

by Cait85



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 06:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait85/pseuds/Cait85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine has been keeping a big secret from everyone; one he never thought would ever come out.  When it does, who will pick up the pieces and how will Blaine learn to live with the consequences?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights Will Guide You Home

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Kurt/Blaine Reverse Bang Challenge in July 2012. I was given a beautiful prompt by Chosenfire28, the banner version of which you can see below. She was a pleasure to write for and was really enthusiastic about my ideas from the word go so this is for her!

  


Blaine Anderson had never really thought of himself as a coward before. Sure he had run away from his old school and the bullies there, disappeared off to the safety of Dalton and its zero tolerance anti-bullying policy, but he didn’t consider that cowardice. The first physical attack hadn’t been too serious, just a few bruises and a fractured wrist but he would have been kidding himself to think that now the other kids had got a taste for it there wouldn’t have been a second attack if he’d stayed. There may even have been a third and a fourth and each one would have been worse than the last and would have resulted in more broken bones and longer hospital stays. It had been sensible, leaving when he did. It wasn’t cowardice at all. But now, standing at Kurt’s front door, eyes puffy from crying, completely mentally and physically exhausted after the longest 24 hours in his life and hand raised to knock but unable to make that final move and just tap on the door, now, he realised how much of a coward he was. He loved Kurt. He loved him so much and after the day he had had he wanted nothing more than to curl up in Kurt’s arms and sleep and let Kurt ward off all the thoughts and feelings that were swirling around in his head, making him want to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time. But he couldn’t even make himself knock. Couldn’t bring himself to tell Kurt what had happened, to tell him about the impossibly huge secret Blaine had been keeping from him, the secret he had kept from everyone except his parents. He knew what would happen when Kurt found out his secret. They would fight. Kurt would hate him. He would lose everything.

 

He looked down at the bundle he held cradled to his chest. His daughter. His Amelie. He still couldn’t quite believe this was really happening. He was half expecting to wake up and find out he’d dreamed everything; that the last 18 months of his life had never happened. But he knew he wasn’t really dreaming. How could he have dreamed up something as perfect as the little girl in his arms with the beautiful blue eyes just like her mother’s and wispy brown hairs exactly the same shade as his? How could he have dreamed Kurt, the person he was pretty sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with? No, this was definitely happening. Now he just needed to work out what to do next. He wasn’t sure when he made the decision to come here. He’d left his parents home some 8 hours before after quite possibly the worst row he had ever had with them and had driven around aimlessly for hours. He had been surprised to find himself pulling up outside the Hudmel house but as soon as he cut the engine he realised this was what he needed. He needed to tell Kurt everything. He needed his boyfriend to forgive him. To hug him and kiss him and tell him it would be okay. It was breaking his heart to think that when Kurt heard about Amelie, he might never want to hug or kiss Blaine again.

 

Blaine was pulled from his inner turmoil over knocking on the door by that very same door creaking open. 

 

“Blaine, what are you doing here? I thought you had gone away with your parents for a few days?”

 

Carole stood in the door way with two trash bags at her feet. Blaine smiled at her weakly, cursing himself as he fought back a fresh wave of tears at the sight of her friendly face. He had cried enough tears today, he didn’t want to shed any more. Carole’s face morphed from confusion to concern. Then she noticed Amelie.

 

“Why don’t you come inside Sweetie?” She asked him, stepping back to let him in.

 

Blaine nodded shakily and stepped through the front door, standing in the hallway looking lost. Carole quickly deposited the trash bags on the porch to be taken down to the curb later. When she was done she turned back to Blaine and ushered the shaking boy through to the family room. Pushing him gently down onto the sofa she asked him if he wanted a drink and he nodded silently. With that she turned on her heel and headed to the kitchen to make him a mug of hot cocoa to warm him up.

 

As she made the drink she thought carefully about the best thing to do next. There was obviously something wrong for Blaine to show up on the doorstep in this state at this time of night and she couldn’t begin to imagine why he had such a young baby with him. Part of her wanted to talk to Blaine herself and find out what was going on however a bigger part realised that Blaine could only have come here for one reason. Kurt. 

With a glance at the family room door, Carole crept upstairs and knocked lightly on her stepson’s door, calling him quietly.

 

Kurt was sitting at his vanity finishing off his skincare routine when he heard Carole calling softly through the closed door, asking him to come downstairs. He called back that he would be down in a minute before quickly finishing smoothing the last of his moisturising cream into his t-zone before putting everything back in its place and heading down. Carole met him at the bottom of the stairs and the look on her face was enough to instantly put him on edge.

 

“Carole? What’s wrong?” Panic gripped Kurt as he tried to work out why Carole looked so serious standing there waiting for him. “It’s not Dad is it? He hasn’t had another heart attack? Please Carole, tell me what’s wrong!”

 

Carole quickly reached out to place a calming hand on Kurt’s shoulder and smiling at him reassuringly.

 

“Your Dad is fine honey, stop worrying.” She sighed, still not sure what was happening but knowing one thing for certain. “Blaine’s here. I think he needs you.” She gripped his hands tightly. “Listen to him Kurt. I don’t know what’s going on but that boy is going through something and he needs you to be there for him.”

 

Kurt frowned. Blaine was supposed to be on his way to California with his parents right now to visit his brother. They were supposed to be gone for the next two weeks. Blaine didn’t get on with his older brother very well and had asked his parents if he could stay home but they had refused, insisting that the boys would get along better if they spent more time together. So Kurt and Blaine had spent the previous evening together saying goodbye and had prepared themselves for two whole weeks without seeing each other, the longest they would have been apart since they met. So why was Blaine here now? He was distracted from asking Carole by the soft sound of singing floating down the hall.

 

_Hush little baby don’t say a word,_

_Daddy’s gonna buy you a mocking bird._

 

Kurt looked at Carol, eyes wide and demanding. Who was Blaine singing to? And why was he singing a lullaby? Carole didn’t provide any answers, instead she just nudged him gently, prompting him to move along the hallway, standing so he could see into the family room.

 

_And if that mockingbird don’t sing,_

_Daddy’s gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_And if that diamond ring turns brass,_

_Daddy’s gonna buy you a looking glass._

 

Blaine sat on the couch, singing to a tiny baby lying in his lap. Kurt didn't claim to be an expert on babies but if he had to guess he would say the child Blaine held could be no older than 5 or 6 months. It was dressed all in pink and was gurgling happily, arms reaching up towards Blaine as he sang

 

_And if that looking glass gets broke,_

_Daddy’s gonna buy you a billy goat._

_And if that billy goat doesn’t pull,_

_Daddy’s gonna to buy you a cart and bull._

 

Kurts eyes were fixed on his boyfriends face as he sang to the baby (his daughter? He asked himself. Surely there was no other explanation for the way he was looking at her, although how and why Blaine could have a daughter when he was gay, Kurt didn’t know). He could see the love in Blaine’s eyes, a glint so similar and yet still so different to the one he was used to seeing directed at himself. He didn’t even realise he was moving towards Blaine until he found himself sitting on the couch next to him.

 

_And if that cart and bull turns over,_

_Daddy’s gonna to buy you a dog named Rover._

_And if that dog named Rover won’t bark,_

_Daddy’s gonna to buy you a horse and cart._

 

Carole watched Kurt moving to sit on the couch with a soft smile on her face. She wasn’t sure yet what was going on, although she could make a few educated guesses. Blaine looked like his world had just fallen apart and put itself back together all at the same time. More broken than she had ever seen any boy his age yet at the same time, more complete. As she listened to him sing the last couple of lines of the song, the little baby falling asleep with her thumb in her mouth, she turned and crept of down the hallway, leaving to boys to talk in private

 

_And if that horse and cart falls down,_

_you’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town._

 

As Blaine finished singing he became aware of his surroundings and the first thing he realised was that he wasn’t alone any more. He glanced up into the eyes of his boyfriend before looking back down again, eyes fixed on the little girl who was fast making herself the centre of his universe. He had no idea what he was supposed to say now. He looked around for Carole but couldn’t see her anywhere. It was just him and Kurt. He idly wondered to himself how long it would be before Kurt started shouting. How long until he told him to leave. 

 

“What’s her name?” Kurt was the one to finally break the silence, speaking softly so as not to wake the sleeping baby.

 

“Amelie.” Blaine answered simply, brushing a stray curl off her forehead. “Amelie Marie Anderson-Bailey.” 

 

He finally looked up properly, expecting to see anger or hatred in Kurt’s eyes. What he didn’t expect was for Kurt to put an arm round his shoulder in a hug, pulling his head down to rest on Kurt’s shoulder. 

 

“She’s beautiful. She looks just like you.”

 

Blaine smiled weakly. “She looks more like her Mom than me.” He answered, shifting on the sofa until he was pressed tight into Kurt’s side with Amelie cradled tightly in one arm. His voice broke a little as he mentioned her Mom.

 

Kurt squeezed him tighter, fighting down the urge to make a sarcastic retort at the mention of Amelie’s Mom. 

 

“What’s going on Blaine? You know you can tell me anything.”

 

Blaine nodded his head, steeling himself in determination.

 

“She’s my daughter.” He said softly, his voice catching on the last word.

 

Kurt nodded his head, inhaling a deep breath as he did so. He had already realised that, hearing Blaine singing to her had been enough to tell him, but hearing Blaine say the words just made it that much more real. His boyfriend had a daughter. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say. Was there a right thing to say in a situation like this? He could feel panic bubbling in the pit of his stomach and he wanted to be angry at Blaine for not thinking to tell him he had a daughter sooner. But having seen Blaine singing to the little girl and feeling him trembling as they sat together now, Kurt somehow managed to keep those feelings to himself, remembering Carole’s earlier words and knowing that whatever was going on, Blaine needed him more than ever right now.

 

As the silence stretched on, Blaine got progressively more nervous. He knew he needed to explain to Kurt but he didn’t know how. He had kept this secret locked up inside for so long that now it was time to let it out, to talk to someone about it, he didn’t know where to start.

 

The silence was broken by Carole knocking softly on the door before pushing it open slowly and coming inside. Blaine was surprised to see a wicker moses basket in her hand, soft white blankets lining it.

 

“I thought your arms might need a rest. This was Finn’s when he was a baby; I’ve never been able to bring myself to get rid of it.” Carole smiled at Blaine reassuringly and Blaine smiled gratefully in return. Carole put the basket down on the coffee table and pulled the blankets back, allowing Blaine to carefully lie Amelie down. The baby whimpered softly in her sleep, squirming around seeking her father’s body heat before calming. As Carole edged quietly out of the room, Kurt pulled Blaine into his arms properly.

 

“Go on, tell me everything. You’ll feel better when you do.”

 

Blaine frowned in confusion.

 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” He asked Kurt softly, hesitantly. “You’re supposed to be mad at me. You are supposed to yell at me and tell me you never want to see me again right now.”

 

“Would you rather I did that?” Kurt asked him. “I’m not going to lie, I’m confused and I’m hurt that you never told me you had a daughter and I’m scared that if you can keep something like this from me you could be keeping so many other secrets, I’m scared of how much this could change things. But I don’t know the full story yet. When I do, then I’ll decide how mad at you I am.

 

Blaine nodded weakly. “Okay." He huffed out a breath of resignation, "that sounds fair I guess.” With no more hesitation, he took a deep breath and began.

“I’ve only been at Dalton a year; I started there a couple of months before you did. Before Dalton I went to Westerville South High. It... I hated it there. The bullying was the opposite of what it was like for you at McKinley, or at least it was to begin with. You were picked on. Pushed, shoved, called names, targeted for being different. I was ignored by everyone. Day after day no-one spoke to me. No one sat with me in class, no one would work on projects with me. Teachers stopped asking them to after the end of the first semester of freshman year. They just left me to get on with things on my own. The only exception was my friend Jess. Her parents had been best friends with mine since before we were born so the two of us grew up together. She was the first person I came out to. I was only 12 at the time but I knew I was different and she was there for me to talk to. She promised me it didn’t change anything, that I would always be her best friend. She wasn't lying either. When I was outed at school, she was amazing. She refused to stop talking to me just because everyone else had. It didn't do her reputation any favours but she was lucky enough that she still managed to keep a small circle of friends aside from me. 

 

Last April, one of Jess’ friends, a girl called Emily, had a party. Jess begged me to go with her, she used every bit of blackmail material she had against me to convince me to go. I really didn’t want to – going to a party with a group of people who hated me and ignored by existence day in day out was my idea of hell - but Jess begged and I always had a bit of a problem when it came to saying no to Jess. So I went and I hid in a corner while Jess and her girlfriends gossiped and forgot I was there and I drank some punch and counted down the minutes until I had been there an acceptable length of time to tell Jess I was leaving. I didn’t realise the punch had been spiked. Everything that happened is still really fuzzy but somehow Jess and I ended up having sex. I don’t remember why and I’m really quite grateful that I don’t remember doing anything past kissing her but a guy in my homeroom told me the following Monday that he had seen us together. He told me in graphic detail what he had seen us doing.”

 

Blaine paused lost in thought. He hadn’t made the connection before but thinking on it now, maybe he should stop drinking when there were girls around. Drunken Blaine appeared to be a little too straight for his liking. 

 

“After the party, suddenly people wanted to talk to me at school. Jess and I both made a pact to forget it ever happened and never speak of it again but we’d been seen and news travels fast. By Monday it was all over the school that Gay Anderson had slept with a girl. I’d been wishing since the day I had come out that people would talk to me again, but as soon as people were, I hated it. The only reason they were talking to me was because they thought I’d given up on being into guys and decided girls were better after all. They didn’t want to talk to me, they wanted to talk to the person they thought I was. There was a freshman boy called Neil who I’d heard rumours about. He didn’t get ostracised quite the way I had done because he wasn’t actually out but everyone had their suspicions. I just wanted people to stop bringing up what Jess and I had done, so I asked him to go with me to the Sadie Hawkins dance that was coming up. I didn’t think he would say yes. I assumed I’d get a punch in the gut and that within an hour it would be all round school that I was still gay and things would go back to normal. But he said yes and having asked him and with him having been brave enough to essentially come out by saying yes I couldn’t think of a way to get out of going. So we went to the dance and when we were leaving we got cornered by half the football team. I ended up with a few bruises, a split lip and a fractured wrist. Neil had a couple of cracked ribs and a broken ankle. 

 

My parents pulled me out of school after that and enrolled me at Dalton. Everything looked like it would be okay. Then Jess turned up on my doorstep one afternoon last August crying her heart out and everything changed.”

 

“She was pregnant?” Kurt asked softly after a long pause. He was trying not to interrupt as he could see how much Blaine needed to talk through all this but the silence was becoming stifling and he needed to break it.

 

Blaine nodded.

 

“She was. She kept going back and forth between apologising, begging for help and telling me it was all my fault. Then she would apologise for blaming me and the whole cycle would start again. I promised I would stand by her, whatever she decided I’d be there for her. When our parents found out that decision was taken away from us.”

 

Kurt watched as tears pooled in Blaine’s eyes. He pulled Blaine tighter to him, encouraging the younger boy to rest his head on Kurt’s chest. When they were both comfortable, Blaine continued.

 

“We decided to tell both our parents together, we thought that way we could be there for each other and would only need to do it once and we hoped that they would all be less likely to over react if everyone was there. I managed to convince my parents to invite Jess and her family round for dinner. They hadn’t had a dinner party for a while so they thought it was a great idea, although it really took some convincing to get them not to turn it into a big party for half my Dad’s firm and their partners. We had dinner, Jess and I tidied up and put the dishwasher on while our parents sat in the lounge and talked, then we went in, sat down and told them everything.”

 

Blaine sighed to himself, lost in thought, the words now pouring out without his having any control over them.

 

“I don’t think they believed us to start with. Jess’ parents told her not to be stupid, that she had to be having sex to be pregnant and they would have noticed if she was having sex, especially if it was with me. My parents reminded me that I was gay and so of course I hadn’t had sex with my very female best friend. So we told them about the party, about the rumours at school, about what we had done. Then they exploded on us. Jess’ parents were pretty strict Catholics. My parents went to the same church as them but it was more for appearances than because they actually believed what they were being told. But Jess’ parent’s, they were pretty big on the whole sins of the flesh thing. They were furious with Jess for getting herself pregnant out of wedlock and even more so for ruining herself by allowing someone like me to get her pregnant at 16. They never made a secret of the fact they didn’t approve of my sexuality but they tolerated me because they liked my parents and because they knew Jess wouldn’t stand for them trying to keep us apart. In their eyes, I was the worst possible person who could have gotten their little girl pregnant. As least if I had been a nice straight boy they could have romanticised the story a bit, made it sound like the baby’s father was the love of Jess’ life and she’d just made a mistake because of how strongly she felt for him. They would never have been able to make that story stick with me as the father.”

 

“Why didn’t they just make Jess get rid of the baby?” Kurt asked softly. “Surely that would have solved everything; no one would ever have needed to know.”

 

Blaine shook his head emphatically.

 

“They were very firmly anti-abortion; I’d heard them talk about it a few times when the subject came up on the news. There was no way they would ever have even considered suggesting it. I don’t think Jess would have agreed to it even if they had. My parents suggested adoption but they had always been very vocal about the fact they didn’t agree with adoption either. They told Jess straight that she had messed up and she would have to live with the consequences and that that meant raising the baby on her own, as a single parent. They said that all babies belonged with their mothers and this was no exception. I offered to help, I wanted to be involved and I didn’t want Jess to have to do it alone, but all our parents were agreed that wasn’t going to happen. Her parents told me straight that I was to stay away from both Jess and the baby and if they found out I’d been anywhere near they would be going straight to the nearest police station and reporting me for raping their little girl. My dad pointed out they wouldn’t get very far with that since we were both minors when it happened, but it got their point across. He said it was for the best that I wasn’t involved; that this way I would be free to go to Dalton, be happy, finish school, go to college. I wouldn’t need to worry about bringing up a baby I wasn’t ready for or committing my life to someone I didn’t want to be with. He and Mom promised they would make sure Jess and the baby were taken care of financially, but I wasn’t to be involved. I just had to forget all about it and move on.”

 

“Wow.” Kurt exhaled slowly. “That’s quite a lot to take in all in one go.” He looked at Blaine and saw a look of hope in his eyes which was quickly dying out the longer Kurt stayed quiet. “Why didn’t you tell me all this sooner?” he asked softly, squeezing Blaine’s hand in a gesture of reassurance.

 

Blaine groaned in frustration as he thought about it. 

 

“I don’t know.” He finally answered. “I wanted to. I thought about telling you so many times but I kept coming back to what my Dad said. Forget it and move on. Be happy. You made me happy Kurt. No, you _make_ me happy. Every time I thought about telling you, I realised it would destroy everything and I couldn’t make myself do it. And every time I chickened out of telling you, I felt a little more guilty about it but then it made the thought of actually telling you even worse, because the longer I left it, the more of a big deal it would be. It was a stupid vicious circle that I couldn’t find a way out of.”

 

Kurt nodded his head, trying his hardest to understand this from Blaine’s point of view and not to let his emotions get the better of him. He loved Blaine but he couldn’t believe his boyfriend could keep something like this from him. It scared him and made him wonder what other secrets Blaine was keeping. He knew now wasn’t the time to bring this up with Blaine however. His boyfriend needed his support right now. There was obviously more to the story. Unfortunately he couldn’t control himself and ended up bombarding Blaine with a slew of questions.

 

“So what changed? Why did you turn up on my doorstep this evening with your daughter? And how have you even got her with you since you aren’t supposed to see her? Wh-” Blaine placed his finger gently against Kurt’s lips, silencing his stream of questions with a melancholy smile. Kurt looked down, frustrated with himself for not being able to keep quiet and with Blaine for not already having started answering his questions. 

 

Blaine opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a shrill cry coming from the basket on the coffee table. Kurt found it hard to miss the look of panic that crossed Blaine’s face before he darted forwards to scoop the baby girl up into his arms, cooing and shushing her softly. 

 

“Hey baby girl, what’s all the noise about?” he spoke to her, trying to keep calm but finding a slightly hysterical undertone creeping into his voice. Unfortunately his attentions didn’t seem to calm her and her cries just got louder and louder. Blaine’s bit his lip, trying to work out what was wrong with her but failing to come up with anything.

 

“What do you want Amelie? You’ve just had a nap, I fed you before we came here and changed your diaper, I don’t know what you need.” He felt tears in his eyes as he tried and failed to calm his little girl, sure that Kurt was thinking even worse of him now he could see what a terrible father he was – he couldn’t even stop his daughter from crying.

 

Kurt watched Blaine with a combination of compassion, pity and sorrow. Blaine looked so young; scared and lost with no idea what to do. Kurt hated seeing him like that. Without so much as a word he gently took Amelie from Blaine’s arms and stood, cradling her tight to his chest and bouncing her softly as he paced around the room.

 

“Hey there little girl, what’s all the fuss about?” He spoke softly, running a finger lightly up and down her cheek as he did so. “You’re upsetting your daddy you know. And between the two of us, I think he’s already upset enough without you scaring him like this.” He smiled in relief as the baby’s cries began to subside, the loud wails of a few moments ago fading to quiet whimpers.

 

“There we go, such a good girl for Uncle Kurt aren’t you?” Kurt adjusted her in his arms so her head was resting on his shoulder before sitting back down next to Blaine smiling at him reassuringly. Amelie just turned her head into Kurt’s neck and brought a thumb up and slipped it into her mouth.

 

Blaine for his part, sat there mouth wide open in shock trying to process what had just happened.

 

“How did you do that?!” He demanded quietly, conscious of the fact he didn’t want to disturb Amelie again.

 

Kurt shrugged with his free shoulder.

 

“After my Mom died my Aunt and Uncle used to look after me after school while my Dad was working at the garage. They have twins who were about Amelie’s age when my Mom died. My Aunt used to let me help her with them sometimes. She always said that calming a crying baby is all in the tone of voice you use – babies are like dogs, they can sense fear. As long as you sound confident, they should respond to you but the second they hear you panicking, you’ve lost the battle. It just takes practice.”

 

Blaine buried his face in his hands, groaning into them in despair.

 

“I am such a terrible father.” He moaned, voice muffled in his hands. He said something else too which Kurt couldn’t quite make out. It didn’t stop Kurt from shooting him down. 

 

“Don’t say that.” He demanded firmly. “I know there is more that you haven’t told me yet, but I can tell you now you aren’t a terrible father. You’re just new at it. Amelie is here with you. She’s safe, warm, clean, fed. A terrible father wouldn’t have made sure of all that.”

 

Blaine looked up at Kurt, staring into his eyes with a haunted gaze. 

 

“Would a good father have left himself and his daughter homeless?” He asked in a whisper.

 

“Homeless?” Kurt echoed. “You aren’t-”

 

Blaine nodded his head slowly, a lone tear rolling down his cheek. “I am. As of this morning, I am.”

 

Kurt felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. This was it, the point of no return. Whatever Blaine was about to tell him was big and somehow he knew it was going to change things; for better or worse was yet to be determined.

 

“What happened Blaine?” He asked softly. “Please tell me.”

 

Blaine closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and began his tale.

 

“It started with a phone call last night. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the name on the screen of my phone. I hadn’t spoken to Jess since the day her parents marched her out of our house in disgrace, but I never deleted her number. I guess I was just trying to keep hold of what I could. It sounds stupid, but as soon as I saw her name flashing up on the screen, I knew something was wrong. She didn’t sound herself when I spoke to her. She wasn’t making sense, just kept apologising over and over again. Then she told me Amelie was outside and begged me to look after her which was really confusing because the only Amelie I knew was the doll I gave her for her fifth birthday that my Mom let me pick out when we vacationed in Paris. I couldn’t understand why the doll was outside or why I had to look after it for her but she was so worked up that I thought maybe if I just promised she would calm down and explain what was going on but before I could find out if that worked, there was a really loud bang and then the line went dead. I tried calling her back but she didn’t answer.”

 

Blaine was lost in the memories of the past 24 hours as he spoke, the whole story spilling out. He wrung his hands together nervously, eyes fixed downwards, afraid to see the look in his boyfriends eyes as he continued.

 

“I should have done something as soon as the phone went dead but I didn’t realise what was going on. If I’d just gone straight round there, maybe things would have been different. I could have saved her! But I thought she had just been caught talking to me by her parents and was busy being told off or something. So I finished packing for the trip to Cali and tidied up my room a bit and then I started getting ready for bed and by the time I had done all that I had practically forgotten the weird call from Jess. I was just getting into bed when my phone rang again. I didn’t recognise the number but I answered it any way. It was strange. Of all the things that phone call could have been, I would never have guessed it would be a paramedic telling me they were on the way to the emergency room with my daughter Amelie. I just went onto auto pilot. I didn’t even get dressed or tell my parents I was going out, just put some sneakers on with my pyjamas, grabbed my keys and my wallet, got in the car and drove. It wasn’t until I got to the hospital that I started to wonder why they called me. Then it clicked what they had said her name was and I remembered the strange call from Jess and suddenly it was just so cold and I was so scared. I didn’t even make it to the information desk. A Nurse was walking past and she realised something was wrong. I could barely speak. I just about managed to get out that I had had a call that my daughter had been brought in. By some amazing co-incidence, she was one of the nurses who had looked her over when she was bought in. She asked me if she could see some ID and as soon as she’d checked I was Blaine Anderson, she took me back to see Amelie.”

 

Blaine breathed deeply, tear filled eyes snapping up to look at Kurt.

 

“She looked so small, lying in an incubator in the emergency room. The nurse said she was fine, she was just a little cold when she was brought in so they were trying to warm her up a bit. I asked her why they called me, why they didn’t call Jess or her parents since it was their front yard she was in. She just went really quiet. She didn’t answer for a long time and that told me everything I needed to know. When she finally did speak, she told me there had been a fire. Jess’ parents weren’t there, they are in Europe on holiday or something, but Jess was inside the house, the doors and windows all locked. By the time the fire fighters got there it was too late. Jess hadn’t been lying when she told me Amelie was outside; they had found her under a bush in the front yard. She was in a car seat, wrapped tightly in blankets. There was a letter with her; it was addressed to me. The nurse explained that the paramedics had opened it which was how they got my contact details. As well as the letter and a sheet with my details on it naming me Amelie’s emergency contact, there was a copy of Amelie’s birth certificate and a few photos’s of her and Jess. I don’t know how she did it, but Jess managed to have my name put on Amelie’s birth certificate; she’s given her my last name and everything. I would love to know how she managed to get that past her parents. The nurse said Jess had obviously planned it because she had also included a copy of all her insurance documents and a will. The police had to keep all of the papers as evidence but they let me have the pictures and a copy of the letter she wrote me. I haven’t read it yet though. When they gave it to me, I just sat there for ages, going between watching Amelie and staring at the letter. I couldn’t bring myself to read it. After a couple of hours, a Doctor came in and announced that Amelie had the all clear and I could take her home. I thought they would have kept her in overnight at least but he said they didn’t have any beds available on the paediatric ward and since she was perfectly healthy and I was there any way, there was no reason to keep her. I tried to explain that I had nothing for her, not even a car seat for her to take her home in, but they produced the one she had been found in and the nurse who had told me about Jess offered to show me how to strap it into my car. I was freaking out the entire time. I just kept thinking it couldn’t be real; that I would wake up any moment and find it was all some crazy dream, but it never happened. I still don’t believe they just sent me off with her like that. Not one person stopped to question the fact that I so obviously didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t think it had occurred to any of them I’d never met my daughter until that night. After all, why would it? My name was on the birth certificate, they had a letter asking them to call me as her emergency contact and they were rushed off their feet. It probably never occurred to them to question it.”

 

Kurt smiled sadly, squeezing Blaine’s hand in a comforting gesture. “I’m sorry.” He said softly. “No matter what happened, Jess was your friend. I’m sorry you had to lose her like that.”

 

Blaine nodded his head gratefully, curving his lips into a wobbly smile.

 

“The rest of the night was so surreal. I decided I should call on the way home to pick up some formula and some diapers and a couple of changes of clothes for her which was a complete disaster. I never knew diapers came in so many sizes Kurt! How are you supposed to know which ones to get? And clothes are no better! She’s five and a half months old, so do you get things for 3-6 month olds which she’s going to grow out of in a matter of weeks, or do you go for the 6-9 month option which will all be too big for her?! I practically had a mental breakdown in the middle of the store – some old woman had to come and help me out and as soon as she found out Amelie was my daughter, not my sister, all she could do was look down her nose at me like I was the biggest screw up she had ever seen! Then she insisted on stuffing my cart full of every baby care product you could possibly think of and every time I asked whether something was completely necessary she just tutted at me and muttered something about facing up to responsibilities. When we finally got home I had to sneak Amelie in without my parents hearing us and then I stayed up all night watching her sleep because I was terrified that she would wake up, start crying and my parents would hear and fly off the handle at me. I changed my first diaper, which by the way is the most disgusting thing I have ever had to do, and then I just lay there with her resting on my chest, watching her sleep and trying to work out what I was going to say to my parents in the morning.”

 

Kurt watched his boyfriend getting riled up just thinking about everything with a sadness in his heart. He could understand where Blaine’s parents were coming from saying he couldn’t have anything to do with his daughter, after all, it was heartbreaking watching Blaine suffer like this. Blaine had been a teenage parent for less than 24 hours and already he was being judged and labelled by complete strangers. He didn’t deserve that. He could see how much re-living the previous night hurt Blaine and it saddened him to know that there was worse to come, after all, Blaine still hadn’t told him how he became homeless or what was in the letter from Jess. He adjusted Amelie in his arms, eliciting a small whimper before the little girl sighed and curled tighter to him, and leaned back into the couch, shoulder rubbing against Blaine’s as he continued his story.

 

“I stayed in my room as long as I thought I could get away with it the next morning but eventually I knew one of my parents would come looking for me if I didn’t go down to breakfast of my own accord. I dressed Amelie and myself, grabbed my bag that I had packed for LA along with the few things I had bothered to bring in from the car last night for Amelie and we went downstairs. I left everything by the front door in case we needed to make a quick getaway and then I took Amelie into the kitchen for breakfast. Both my parents were already there. They had their backs to the door and I could hear them talking about plans for the day; what time we were leaving for the airport, when our flights were, what time Cooper was picking us up at the other end, just the general things you talk about the morning you go on vacation. It all seemed so normal. Then my Mom looked around and saw me standing in the doorway holding Amelie and she just froze; stopped talking mid sentence and just sat there staring at us like we’d fallen from the sky or something. Her silence alerted my Dad to the fact that something wasn’t right and things just kind of snowballed from there.

 

They stayed pretty calm to start with. My Dad asked me to explain myself so I did. I told them everything, from that first phone call from Jess and the promise I made her to the call from the paramedics, going to the hospital, Jess’ letter and bringing Amelie home. My Dad asked me if I’d already phone Child Services and asked them to come get her. Just asked straight out with no emotion whatsoever, no recognition of the fact it was his granddaughter he was trying to get rid of like that. So I told him I hadn’t and that I wasn’t going to. He just went mad. He was talking so fast, getting louder and louder and not letting me get a word in. He kept telling me how irresponsible I was being, how I couldn’t keep her because I wasn’t old enough or mature enough. He said that if it was just because I’d promised Jess I’d look after her then I should think again, because Amelie would be far better off and better looked after with someone who actually wanted her. I tried to stay calm, honest I did. I tried to tell him that I didn’t only want to keep her because of what I had said to Jess but because she was mine. The second I saw her in the hospital, I knew I would do anything for her. I love her and the thought of giving her up and never seeing her again just hurts too much to even think about it. When I said that to Dad, he told me I was being ridiculous, that I’d only met her 12 hours ago and I couldn’t possibly feel that strongly about her. So I asked him how he felt about me and Cooper. I asked him whether he could have given either of us away like that after having us for 12 hours and he didn’t have an answer to that. I think my Mom realised I was right, because she tried to persuade him to give me a chance. She suggested Amelie come to LA with us and that when we got back the three of us talk properly and decide what was best for both Amelie and I and have a look at our options.”

 

Kurt nodded his head, the idea sounding sensible to him. He quickly realised though that with Blaine sitting here in his living room claiming to be homeless, and his parents on their way to LA, this couldn’t be what had actually happened.

 

“My Dad didn’t agree.” Blaine continued, practically whispering. 

 

“He told my Mom he wouldn’t condone it. That he wouldn’t allow such madness under his roof. Then he gave me a choice. He said I could call child services right then and ask them to come pick up Amelie straight away, or, I could take Amelie and leave. He said that if I wanted to raise my daughter myself then I could find somewhere else to do it because he refused to give me his blessing or support me in that decision. He also made it clear that if I decided to leave with Amelie, I could forget them paying tuition at Dalton for me for the next two years. He said he refused to throw good money away on school for me when I was just going to flunk out anyway because there was no way I could juggle parenting and the course load at Dalton.”

 

Blaine didn’t pause long enough for Kurt to react before he continued.

 

“So, I turned around, walked out of the kitchen, grabbed my bags from where I left them by the front door and walked out. I put Amelie in the car, got in myself and drove away. I didn’t look back and I didn’t say goodbye.

 

“I drove round in circles for ages before I ended up outside the park Jess and I used to play in when we were kids. There is this old tree just inside the fence which we used to climb. We used to spend hours sitting in that tree just doing nothing. I spent most of the day today sitting under it with Amelie, telling her stories about her Mom and me when we were little. I know she’s too young and she won’t understand or remember, but I just thought she deserved to hear stories. My Dad text me not long after I got there to say if I wasn’t home within an hour they were going to LA without me and would expect me to have moved my stuff out by the time they got home. My Mom text me just over an hour later to tell me they loved me but that my Dad was right. She said I can go home when I’m ready to give up Amelie.”

 

Kurt sat in silence after listening to Blaine’s tale. It was a lot to take in but his heart was breaking for Blaine. No one should have to go through any of those things in isolation but to have them all happen at once was unthinkable. Without speaking he got up and gently placed the once again sleeping Amelie in the basket on the table, kissing the crown of her head delicately as he did so. Once his arms were empty, he opened them wide, inviting Blaine in for a hug.

 

Blaine for his part didn’t need asking twice. The moment Kurt’s arms were empty and waiting for him, he flung himself forward, pulling Kurt in tight, burying his face in his neck and sobbing brokenly while Kurt whispered soothing words and sounds in his ear, much like he had done with Amelie earlier.

 

As Blaine drew strength from Kurt and Kurt quietly soothed his boyfriend’s broken heart, Kurt thought to himself. He couldn’t deny he was still hurt that Blaine had kept such a big secret from him and he was still worried about what else Blaine may be capable of keeping from him but he could see how much Blaine cared about his daughter, despite only having met her less than 24 hours ago. Kurt wasn’t naive. He knew what would happen if Blaine and Amelie had nowhere else to go. Blaine would end up with no choice but to follow his parents’ wishes and give up his daughter. Amelie would go into care and end up being adopted out and Blaine would go home to his parents where things would forever be strained between them because Blaine blamed them for the fact he lost his daughter. Blaine would never see Amelie again and yes, he probably would move on in the end but that didn’t mean it would hurt him any less. Kurt had seen the heartbreak that came with giving up a child. Both Puck and Quinn, for all they claimed to be fine about having given Beth away, missed the daughter they had given up. It wasn’t always noticeable but there were times, particularly if the subject of children came up, when the sadness was evident in their eyes. Kurt didn’t want Blaine to suffer the same fate. But what was the alternative? If it was just Blaine, Kurt would ask his Dad to let him stay with them, but there was no way his Dad and Carole would ever agree to having Blaine and his daughter move in. Besides, even if by some miracle they did, there were so many other things to consider. They both had school, although as well as finding somewhere to live, Blaine now also had to find a school to go to too. There was child care to consider; who would look after Amelie while Blaine was in school? Where would the money come from for him to feed and clothe her? How would he explain her to his friends and teachers? Blaine evidently loved his daughter and wanted to keep her, but the more Kurt thought about it the harder he realised it would be. But one thing was certain to Kurt. He loved Blaine. And because he loved Blaine, he had to do his best to support him in this. He didn’t know how, but he was going to do everything he could to help Blaine keep Amelie with him.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carole stood outside the family room door blinking back tears. She hadn’t intended to listen to Kurt and Blaine’s conversation however she had heard the baby crying and came to see if she could help. By the time she had pushed open the door however Kurt had already managed to calm the little girl and Carole didn’t want to interrupt the moment happening between the two boys. She knew she should have just left quietly then but something kept her feet rooted to the spot on which she stood, listening to Blaine’s retelling of the past 24 hours. She had so many mixed emotions over everything she had heard that she didn’t know where to begin processing them. There was shock that anyone could ever treat their child the way Jess’ parents had treated her, horror that a teenage girl could feel so lost she couldn’t see any other way out, compassion for Blaine who had been forced to grow up literally overnight, anger that Blaine’s parents would rather see him living in a shop doorway somewhere than have him at home with his daughter. It was the last one that she had the most trouble processing. By no means did she believe herself to be the perfect parent however she knew for certain that neither Finn nor Kurt could ever do anything that would result in her kicking either of them out, especially if neither of them had anywhere else to go. 

 

Standing in the hallway and watching Kurt and Blaine through the gap in the door, Carole knew what she had to do. She wouldn’t see Blaine and Amelie torn apart; they had both lost too much already, and she couldn’t see them out on the street, the two wouldn’t last five minutes. Somehow, she had to talk Burt into letting the two of them stay.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kurt wasn’t sure how long he sat with Blaine, holding his boyfriend tight, but eventually their quiet time was broken by a loud yawn from Blaine. He blushed slightly as Kurt pulled back to look at him.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s just been a really long day.”

 

Kurt nodded in understanding, remembering what Blaine had said about how he had spent the previous night.

 

“You must be exhausted, especially since you didn’t sleep last night.”

 

“I feel like I could sleep for a week.” Blaine sighed softly, suppressing another yawn, “but there is so much going on in my head, I won’t be able to sleep yet.”

 

Kurt stood and held a hand out to his younger boyfriend. “You think that now, but you’ll be out like a light the second your head hits the pillow. Come on, I’ll set you up in the guest room for the night.”

 

Blaine shrugged, quietly thinking to himself that Kurt might be right. Slowly, he held up has hand, letting Kurt pull him to his feet before his brain caught up with the second thing Kurt just said.

 

“Shouldn’t you check with Carole and your Dad before you send me to bed in the guest room? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if it was just me but I can’t just expect them to be okay with Amelie staying here.”

 

Kurt fixed his boyfriend with a harsh glare. “It’s late and there is no way I’m letting you drive anywhere when you are this tired. I’m sure they will both be fine with you staying for one night, just leave them to me. Okay?” 

 

Blaine sighed, not having the energy to argue. “Okay, just one night. Tomorrow I can take Amelie back to my parents for a few days while I try and work out what to do in the long term. At least I know they won’t be there for a couple of weeks so I don’t have to find somewhere else straight away.”

 

“Don’t worry about that for now. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Kurt answered him firmly. “Did you need to get anything from the car?”

 

Blaine nodded his head tiredly before looking down at Amelie, a puzzled expression on his face. Kurt noticed Blaine’s silent struggle and decided to help him out.

 

“Why don’t you go and get what you need and take it up to the guest room? I’ll take Amelie and let Carole know you’re both staying and we’ll meet you up there.”

 

Blaine smiled gratefully; glad that after everything he could still count on Kurt to know what he was thinking at any given time, and kissed him gently before walking out of the room and slipping out of the front door. Kurt was just picking Amelie up to go looking for Carole when the woman in question walked into the family room.

 

“Where did Blaine go?” she asked, concern in her voice. 

 

Kurt smiled reassuringly. “He’s just gone to the car to get a few things for him and Amelie.” He paused, suddenly not sure how to ask if it was ok for his boyfriend and his daughter to stay the night. He didn’t think Carole would say no, but suddenly he realised what a big ask it was. Luckily Carole beat him to the punch.

 

“He’s staying here tonight I assume?”

 

Kurt breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Carole hopefully. “Is that okay? I can drive them back to his parents if it’s not.”

 

Carole just smiled at him. “Of course it’s okay sweetie. It’s obviously been a long day for him. I’d feel far happier knowing him and Amelie are here tonight rather than in that big house on their own. They’re staying in the guest room though, right?” She asked, smiling at him knowingly.

 

Kurt blushed, knowing that Carole was alluding to the fact she had caught Blaine sneaking out of Kurt’s room at 4am the last time he slept over. It had all been completely innocent; the boys had just fallen asleep watching a DVD on Kurt’s bed, but Carole seemed to enjoy teasing them like only a mother could. “Yes Carole, they will stay in the guest room, I’ll stay in my room, everyone will be where they are supposed to be with no inappropriate behaviour at all.” He answered her, trying really hard not to roll his eyes at her.

 

Carole just laughed good naturedly as they heard the front door open again, Blaine coming back inside. Kurt followed Carole out into the hallway meeting Blaine at the bottom of the stairs. Carole took both of them by surprise as she pulled Blaine into a tight hug. Blaine felt his chest tighten and his eyes prickle as she hugged him tight, suddenly hit with the realisation that his own mother hadn’t hugged him in over a year; not since before she found out he’d managed to get his best friend pregnant. Carole pulled back and looked Blaine in the eye, speaking to him sternly. 

 

“No matter what, you are always welcome here. Understand me?” She asked him firmly.

 

Blaine just nodded his head, smiling weakly. “Thanks Carole.” He answered her softly.

 

She ruffled his hair affectionately. “No need to thank me. Now, go to bed. You’re exhausted. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

Blaine and Kurt bid Carole goodnight and headed upstairs together, Kurt following Blaine into the guest room and finally realising how much stuff Blaine had with him. He watched in fascination as Blaine opened up a travel cot and put it in the corner of the room.

 

“You weren’t kidding when you said that woman made you buy everything they had were you?” He laughed softly.

 

Blaine shook his head. “Nope. The back seat of my car looks like I’ve burgled mothercare. There’s a stroller, play mats, bottles, pacifiers, diapers, a bouncer, more toys than she could possibly ever need. My parents will freak when they get their next credit card bill but what are they going to do about it? It’s not like they can kick me out or anything.” He added bitterly.

 

Kurt put a comforting hand on his shoulder before handing Amelie to him.

 

“I’m going to leave you and Amelie to settle in. I’ll be in my room getting ready for bed if you want to come say goodnight when you’ve put her down.”

 

Blaine smiled gratefully, glad once again that Kurt understood him and realised he needed to put Amelie to bed by himself this first time. “I’ll be there soon.” He told him as Kurt walked to the door. 

 

Kurt just smiled. “I’ll see you soon then.” He paused before adding, “I love you.”

 

Blaine let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in.

 

“Love you too.” He replied as Kurt stepped out of the room into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

20 minutes later there was a quiet knock on Kurt’s door as it creaked slowly open. Kurt looked up from where he was sitting at his vanity finishing off his evening skincare routine and smiled softly as he saw Blaine standing in the door way.

 

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to come.” He told him, only half joking. “I thought you might have fallen asleep.”

 

Blaine shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the ground while fidgeting nervously with a walkie-talkie like device he held in his hand.

 

“I’ve put Amelie down. I couldn’t make my brain stop thinking though. I needed to see you again.” He paused, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “I’m scared you won’t be here when I wake up. Or you’ll realise you don’t want me here and kick me out.” He finally confessed softly. His voice sounding so young with those few words that Kurt felt his heart break a little.

 

Kurt got up from his vanity and walked to the bed, sitting down against the headboard and patting the space next to him, inviting Blaine to sit with him. Blaine went gladly, placing the device in his hand on Kurt’s bedside table before sinking into Kurt’s arms gratefully.

 

“What’s that?” Kurt asked him, indicating the device Blaine had just put down. 

 

Blaine smiled softly. “It’s a baby monitor. They come in pairs - you leave one with the baby and keep the other one with you and when the baby cries, you can hear them.” Blaine blushed. “I told you that woman in the store made me get everything they had. I guess she knew what she was talking about though.”

 

Kurt hummed quietly, gently carding his fingers through Blaine’s gel free hair. He could sense Blaine was working up to saying something and he didn’t want to throw him off track so he figured non-committal sounds were the best way to go. He wasn’t disappointed as Blaine suddenly began to speak, his thoughts and fears flowing out of him without any control.

 

“I’m scared Kurt. I’m scared I’m going to screw up with Amelie and that she’ll grow up to hate me, that my parents will never talk to me again, that your Dad will ban you from seeing me once he finds out I’m just another screw up teenage parent with no prospects. I’m scared that I’ll lose touch with all my friends, now I can’t go to Dalton with them anymore and won’t be able to drop everything to visit them at evenings and on weekends because I’ll have to worry about child care. I’m scared of what I’ll see when I open that letter from Jess, I’m scared it will tarnish my memories of her when I should be able to remember her the way we were before all this. Before we went to that party and got stupidly drunk and did the most idiotic thing in the history of idiocy. I’m scared that I won’t be able to find anywhere for me and Amelie to live and that I’ll end up losing her. But most of all, I’m scared that you’ll wake up in the morning and realise you hate me for this and that you’ll leave me and I’ll have lost the best thing that ever happened to me, my best friend and the man I honestly see myself spending forever with.”

 

Blaine fiddled with a loose thread on the hem of his shirt, not daring to look up at Kurt as he continued speaking.

 

“I’m not going to ask you to help me with Amelie, because she’s not your problem and you shouldn’t have to, you’re dating me not her. You shouldn’t have to plan your life around a baby that you never asked for. I remember, when you told me about Quinn and Puck and their baby drama, you said you were glad you were gay because at least you would never have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. I don’t want to force this on you Kurt. I know it’s not something you want. And I don’t want to get in the way of your future. We had big plans for all the things we were going to do together. We were going to move to New York, you next September and I was going to follow the year after. We were going to get an amazing apartment just for us, have awesome Broadway careers, become big names, get married. We were going to live our dream.” 

 

Blaine trailed off, blinking back tears as he tried to summon the words and the strength to continue.

 

“I’m not going to be able to come to New York any more Kurt. I have to worry about her now. I was thinking about it when I was putting her to bed, if my parents won’t support me financially then I can’t afford day care for her. If I can’t afford day care then I can’t go to school. I figure I can drop out now, find a job I can do from home while I look after her, nothing special, just something to pay the bills. Then when she’s a bit older, maybe when she starts school, I can get my GED, perhaps even take some college classes at OSU if I’m lucky. And then maybe, if I’m really lucky and all the guys in New York are blind, when Amelie is old enough and I have enough money saved that the two of us can move to New York, we can move in down the hall from you, and you’ll still be single, or at least be single again because I’d never think of asking you to wait all that time for me, and if we’re lucky, there will still be a spark between us.”

 

Kurt felt tears leaking from his eyes and flowing down his cheeks as Blaine spoke. He had really mixed feelings about Blaine’s daughter however hearing Blaine talk, laying his soul bare like he had before doing what Kurt thought sounded suspiciously like trying to break up with him, he realised that none of it mattered. Yes he was hurt and yes he wished Blaine had told him, but it wasn’t like Blaine had cheated on him. He slept with Jess before he even met Kurt so as much as he wanted to Kurt couldn’t take issue with that, not fairly any way. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine his life in five years time, a game he had played with himself so many times. For the past few months, whenever he had played this game he saw what Blaine had described of their plan. The two of them, living in a cosy New York flat near Central Park, going out every night to perform on Broadway and coming home to each other, wedding rings on their fingers. But now, he was almost scared by the changes he was imagining. Instead of a one bed flat, it was now a two bed. A toy box sat in the corner and a little blonde girl sat enraptured by a doll which Kurt recognised as one of his own, one he had inherited from his Mom. The little girl smiling at him toothily and begging him to come play with her.

 

He was brought back to reality by Blaine sniffling quietly and realised he’d been quiet for quite a while. He looked at Blaine, seeing the despair in his eyes.

 

“No.” He said firmly, gripping Blaine’s chin and pulling his face up so he could look him in the eyes. “I’m not letting you break up with me.”

 

Blaine looked up at him, a mix of hope and awe in his face. He opened his mouth to speak however Kurt placed a finger over his lips, quieting him while Kurt finished talking.

 

“I won’t deny that this is all a little overwhelming and I’ll admit that its taking all my self control not to completely freak out right now. I don’t know how to deal with this and there is a huge part of me that just wants to scream at you for keeping this from me. But that won’t help anyone. I can’t change all this, not without causing even more problems. So I’ll learn to deal with it. I love you and I don’t want this to be what splits us up. I don’t want anything to split us up, not ever.”

 

He paused, trying to work out what else he needed to say and what Blaine needed to hear. Blaine knew there was something he needed to say however so he took the opportunity to start talking while Kurt was quiet.

 

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to be a second father to her.” He said softly. “She’s my mistake, not yours. You shouldn’t have to put your life on hold for her.”

 

Kurt looked up, glaring heatedly at Blaine.

 

“That’s the last time you talk about her like that Blaine Anderson.” He growled out. “Do you know how many times you’ve called her a problem or a mistake this evening? No matter how she came to be, you don’t talk about her like that. Imagine how she will feel when she’s older, if someone tells her you used to refer to her as a mistake? How would you feel if you heard your parents talking about you that way?”

 

His voice softened and he squeezed Blaine’s hand comfortingly as he watched remorse come over Blaine’s face as he realised just what he had said.

 

“I’m not offering to be a second father to her. It’s not my place to do it and even if it was, I really don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. I’m happy to be her Uncle Kurt and to be her Daddy’s boyfriend but right now, that’s all I can be. As for the future? Don’t worry about it right now. We’ve still got a couple of months before I have to start with college applications so for now, let’s focus on getting you and Amelie sorted, then we can start worrying about the future. And as for all those other things you’re stressing over. Don’t. The fact you’re worrying about screwing up with her tells me that you’re going to be an amazing Dad and she will grow up to love you so much. Your parents will come round when they realise you’re serious about raising Amelie yourself and my Dad will be proud of you for doing the right thing and taking responsibility for your actions. Your friends will just have to visit you on evenings and at the weekends or meet up with you at baby friendly venues. Or you could get someone to babysit for you; I’m sure I can find you plenty of willing sitters. I’ve already told you that I’m not going anywhere, although I suppose the only proof of that will be when I’m still here in the morning. You’ll find somewhere to live, I’ll help you. And the only way to know what is in that letter from Jess is to read it. So you need to decide; do you want to know what she has to say and risk destroying some of your memories, or would you rather not know?”

 

Blaine nodded, understanding what Kurt was saying even if it didn’t help to calm his fears. 

 

“What would you do?” He asked quietly, wishing Kurt would make the decision for him. Kurt however just shrugged.

 

“It doesn’t matter what I would do.” Kurt answered firmly, leaving no room for debate. “You need to do what you think will be best for you.”

 

“Will you read it with me?” Blaine asked after a few moments.

 

Kurt just shook his head. “No. What’s in that letter is between you and Jess. I’ll be here when you’ve read it with all the sympathy you need but it’s private; you should read it yourself. If you still want me to know what it says after you’ve read it, you can tell me.”

 

Blaine nodded his head, yawning loudly as he did so, suddenly feeling completely exhausted. 

 

“I think I should probably get some sleep” he finally decided, hating the thought of having to go back to the guest room by himself but knowing better than to try and sleep in here with Kurt when he knew Burt was due back before too much longer and would be checking both boys were in the right rooms on his way to bed.

 

Kurt rose to his feet, walking hand in hand to his bedroom door with Blaine.

 

“I’ll see you in the morning.” He told his boyfriend pointedly, once again affirming to him that he wasn’t going anywhere. Blaine just nodded before leaning in to kiss Kurt good night. The boys finally parted reluctantly, neither really wanting to be separated. Blaine stepped back into the hallway, blowing Kurt one final kiss before retreating the few steps down the hall to the guest room and sealing himself inside. 

 

Kurt stood in his doorway for a while after Blaine had gone. Staring at the closed guest room door and trying to calm the raging storm of thoughts swirling round in his head. He knew he should go to bed too, but like Blaine earlier, he realised there was no way he would sleep. He needed to work through everything he was feeling. He needed to talk to someone about it. Ordinarily he would have gone to Blaine or Mercedes or possibly even Rachel and talked to them but on this occasion he realised he didn’t have those options. He couldn’t talk to Blaine for obvious reasons and he couldn’t talk to Mercedes or Rachel because as much as he loved his girls they couldn’t keep a secret if their lives depended on it and he couldn’t have Blaine’s situation becoming the next big piece of McKinley High gossip. It wasn’t until he heard movement downstairs that he realised he did have someone he could talk to. He and Carole were slowly becoming closer and he knew she would listen to him without judging. She may even be able to give him some good advice. Feeling lighter already just from the prospect of being able to talk things through, Kurt headed back down to the kitchen in the hopes of finding a hot drink and a caring ear.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Carole was just making herself a cup of tea when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and smiled when she saw Kurt.

 

“Can’t sleep sweetie?” she asked him. 

 

Kurt shrugged his shoulders silently, dropping into a seat at the table.

 

“You want a cup of tea? She asked again, wanting to hear him talk, to know he was ok.

 

Kurt nodded his head. “Yes please.” He answered quietly. 

 

Carole finished making the tea quickly and came over to sit with him, handing him a steaming mug as she passed.

 

Kurt smiled gratefully and took a sip, moaning in pleasure as he did.

 

“You make the best tea Carole.” He told her with a smile on his face. “Your tea always makes me feel better.”

 

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” Carole asked him, cutting straight to the chase.

 

Kurt looked down at the table. Suddenly very interested in the grain of the wood.

 

“Blaine just tried to break up with me.” He finally told her, his voice no louder than a whisper.

 

Carole for her part did not act surprised. She merely took his hand in hers and asked him a question.

 

“Why do you think he did that?”

 

On hearing her words a dam broke in Kurt and he found himself telling her everything. All that Blaine had told him that evening about Jess and Amelie and his parents. Everything they had discussed upstairs when Blaine confessed all his fears to Kurt. After he’d given her a summary of the evening, he told her how he was feeling. How he felt bad for Blaine and he loved him but how part of him wanted to shout at him for lying and keeping secrets. He talked for what felt like forever, confiding in Carole about how worried he was that this would end badly and Blaine or Amelie or both would get hurt. 

 

“He says he doesn’t want to ask me to be Amelie’s second Father.” Kurt drew to a close with the one thing that was worrying him more than anything else, “But is it bad that I think I might want to be?” He didn’t look up at Carole as he spoke, not wanting to see the look on her face. “I don’t want him to put his life on hold and he shouldn’t have to. I know I’m not ready to be a father right now, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him be one. I want to help him with this Carole. I love him, I can’t let him do this alone.”

 

Carole listened to her step son talk, in awe of how grown up and mature he was being about all this. She remembered vividly the day Finn told her his girlfriend was having a baby; how lost he was and the fear in his eyes. For all Kurt was obviously scared, it was also obvious that he was being very practical about this. Without warning, Carole got up and walked round the table, pulling Kurt into a tight hug.

 

“I’m so proud of you.” She mumbled into his hair. 

 

Kurt beamed on hearing her words, amazed she could say something like that in a situation like this. He was going to ask for clarification on exactly what she was proud of when she carried on talking.

 

“Most kids your age, heck, even most adults would have run a mile if their boyfriend or girlfriend turned up one day with their six month old child who they had never even mentioned existed. But you looked after Blaine and listened to him. You helped him calm Amelie when she cried. You said all the things he needed to hear in order to reassure him. Why wouldn’t I be proud of you?” she asked him, running her fingers through his hair soothingly.

 

Kurt sniffed softly. “Thanks Carole.” He answered eventually, not really knowing what else to say. 

 

Carole pulled back, taking Kurt’s hands in her own. “You’re welcome. Now. As to you wanting to help Blaine, before you make any decisions I want you to go to bed and sleep on it. Deciding to raise a baby with someone is a big decision to make. Even if you aren’t ready to be her father, if you help Blaine you’ll be becoming part of her life and once you’ve done that you can’t walk away; it’s not fair on any one. So go to bed, sleep on it, maybe even take a few days to think if you need to. Then sit down with Blaine and talk like grownups about what you want to do and how you feel. I know you’ll do the right thing.”

 

She dropped Kurt’s hands, picking up their tea cups and putting them in the dishwasher. Before turning back to see Kurt getting to his feet. 

 

“Good night Kurt, I’ll see you in the morning.” She told him.

 

Kurt just nodded. “Good night Carole. And thank you.” He smiled sleepily before turning and walking from the room.

 

If anyone had asked Burt Hummel 2 years ago where he imagined himself being at this point in his life, he would never even have considered that he would be married once again to an amazing woman like Carole with a step-son like Finn. When his wife Olivia had died, he felt like his world had come to an end. But then he remembered Kurt, his beautiful little boy who had lost him Mom and was hurting every bit as much as Burt himself was, and he realised that he had to pick himself up, dust himself off, and get on with things for Kurt’s sake. With that realisation, the rain stopped and Burt and his son made the most of things, playing in the puddles but never really knowing what it was like to bask in the sun. 

 

When Kurt introduced Burt to Carole, it was like suddenly the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Burt stopped existing, getting through each day for the sake of his son, and started to live. Carole was truly an amazing woman. Like Burt she had been a single parent for a long time and just like him she had had to deal with some pretty amazing things Finn had put her through. At least, Burt chuckled to himself, he never needed to worry about Kurt getting a girl pregnant.

 

Finn was an unexpected bonus which had come as part of the package with Carole. Burt loved Kurt with everything he had, but he couldn’t deny that there were some things which he almost felt he was missing out on with Kurt. From the moment he and Olivia found out they were having a boy, Burt had had dreams of taking his son to football and baseball games, of taking him fishing and hiking and doing all those other things that men do with their sons. But as Kurt had grown up it became apparent that he wasn’t interested in these things. And the more Burt tried to force his son into bonding with him the way Burt thought he should, the more it became apparent Kurt wasn’t your average boy. Burt had no problem with admitting to himself that he had resented Kurt at times when he was younger, for stealing away experiences that the two should have shared. He regretted those feelings now, when he looked back. His son meant the world to him and even if he could, he wouldn’t change a thing about him, but still, there was something about having Finn around which eased his heart a bit. With Finn, he could do all the father-son activities which Kurt had no interest in. Part of him thought maybe he should feel guilty for what was essentially replacing his son with another child, but he shrugged that off, telling himself that as long as Kurt didn’t mind him spending time with Finn like that it was ok. Besides, while Burt and Finn were out being boys, Kurt and Carole were at home bonding over cooking and home makeovers. It was a winning situation for all involved.

 

That night, Burt and Finn had been at a football game down in Columbus. It was late when they got home and the house, with the exception of the kitchen, was in darkness. As they pulled into the driveway, Burt frowned in confusion.

 

“Is that Blaine’s car?” He asked Finn, suspicion clouding his voice.

 

Finn wasn’t sure what the correct answer was. His Mom was home so he didn’t think Kurt was likely to have snuck Blaine in, especially when his Dad was expected home too and he was pretty sure Blaine was supposed to be in LA or something with his family any way. But he was also pretty certain that it was Blaine’s car sitting at the kerb in front of the house.

 

“It could be.” He answered non-comittally, not wanting to lie to Burt but not wanting to risk getting Kurt in trouble if he was up to something, especially as he knew Kurt had heaps of dirt he could dish on him if he felt the need.

 

Burt grunted in acknowledgement, putting the car into park and killing the engine before heading up to the house, Finn following close behind. The door swung open and Carole slipped out before they had finished climbing the steps to the porch and Burt’s frown deepened.

 

“Is everything okay Carole?” He asked her. “What’s Blaine doing here; I thought he was on vacation with his parents this week?”

 

Finn watched his Mom, recognising the look on her face instantly as the one she wore when she was trying to deal with a difficult situation. A combination of tired and stressed and angry and upset and disappointed. It had been directed at him many times before; most memorably when he told her he had gotten Quinn pregnant and when he got them thrown out of the Hummel house for the way he spoke to Kurt. He couldn’t work out what he had done this time though and based on the fact Blaine was here when he should be on the other side of the country, Finn suddenly realised for the first time that that look didn’t have to be because of him anymore, there were other people in their lives now too that could disappoint and upset his mom just as much as he could. He found his mind running away with him, trying to work out what Kurt (and Blaine, possibly) could have possibly done to put that look on his mothers face. The only think he could think of was that she had found out the two boys were having sex but he quickly disregarded that idea for two reasons; firstly because he figured his brother would tell him if he was having sex with his boyfriend (or at least he would tell Rachel who would then tell Finn) and secondly because he wasn’t even sure how sex between two guys worked (and he really didn’t want to think about it any way). Finn was so deeply lost in his thoughts, he almost missed what his Mom was saying.

 

“...sleeping in the guest room. So you boys need to promise me you will be really quiet when you go inside.” 

 

Finn just nodded, not wanting to let his mother know he had missed most of what she said. He filled in the gaps himself, assuming Blaine was staying over for some reason (the family vacation must have been delayed or cancelled or something, he thought) and was already asleep in the guest room hence the need for him to be quiet. He looked between Burt and his Mom, sensing that they were going to be up for a while yet, and faked a yawn.

 

“I’m beat, I think I’m just going to head on up to bed.” He told them. “Thanks for taking me to the game Burt, I had a blast. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

 

Carole smiled, a soft smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, and ruffled his hair. 

 

“See you in the morning Finn.” 

 

Carole and Burt watched Finn go in silence before they moved into the family room, sitting themselves on the couch where Blaine and Kurt had sat just hours earlier. Burt could tell from the amount of tension in Carole’s voice and posture that they were in for a long night and sure enough, as she began talking he realised how right he was. Burt sat and listened to Carole in silence as she poured out everything. All that she had overheard Blaine telling Kurt, the conversation she and Kurt had had once Blaine was asleep, her own feelings on the matter. Burt took it all in without speaking a word, merely nodding his head every now and then to show he was listening. When Carole reached the end of her tale, she sat there looking at him. Expectation and hope shining in her eyes and Burt knew then there was no way he would ever be able to say no to this woman. Like Kurt, she had a way of looking inside him and tugging at his heartstrings without needing to say a word. It was at that point, looking into her eyes and noticing the similarities between Carole and Kurt, that he realised there was no way he could stop this. He knew things weren’t going to be easy and he had no idea how he was going to get Blaine’s parents to agree to this or how they would work out the logistics of it but he knew that for Kurt and Carole, the two people who meant more to him than anything else in the world; and for Blaine, who he was fast starting to think of as his third son, he would make this work.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Blaine woke the following morning, he had no idea where he was to begin with. Then, as he looked around the room and noticed the small touches that were so clearly Kurt, he realised that he was in the guest room at the Hudmel house and suddenly the events of the past two days came hurtling back, slamming into him like a freight train. 

 

With the sudden remembrance of everything that happened, Blaine realised something was off. The light streaming through the thin curtains told him he’d slept later than he should but surely that wasn’t right. Blaine’s head snapped up in alarm as he thought this through. Amelie wasn’t even six months old yet, she shouldn’t be sleeping so late in the morning. Surely her crying should have woken him up hours ago? With a panicked shout he hurled himself out of bed and across the room to the cot he had put in the corner the night before. Looking down, Blaine was momentarily relieved to see his daughter wasn’t there before his alarm grew. If she wasn’t in the room with him, then where was she?

 

Logically, Blaine knew that his panic was unnecessary but it didn’t stop him from flying down the stairs at an alarming rate, taking two steps at a time and sounding like a herd of elephants stampeding down. He had been a father for less than 2 days and already he had lost the baby. If it wasn’t already totally obvious what a terrible father he was, surely this was enough to prove it.

 

As Blaine rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs he skidded to a stop and he felt air fill his lungs for the first time since he’d realised Amelie was missing. From where he stood he could see Kurt sitting in the kitchen, Amelie nursed against his chest as she sucked formula from the bottle Kurt was holding to her lips. Blaine stood still for a few minutes just watching the scene in front of him. He had told Kurt last night that he didn’t expect him to be a second father to Amelie, that he would understand if Kurt wanted nothing to do with either of them. But seeing his boyfriend and his daughter sitting there like that, looking so natural, he realised that for all he didn’t expect it, there was nothing he wanted more in that very moment.

 

Kurt looked up as he became aware of a pair of eyes watching him, expecting to see Finn standing there trying to work out whose the baby was; after all, Finn was the only one who was quite that noisy coming downstairs. When he saw it was Blaine standing in the doorway looking sleep rumpled his face brightened into a smile. Then he caught his eye and noticed the residual panic and connected it with the noise Blaine had made coming down the stairs and he frowned.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked, concern colouring his tone. 

 

Blaine just nodded, sighing deeply and suddenly feeling very stupid.

 

“I woke up and she wasn’t in the crib. I just kind of panicked a bit.” He blushed, looking down in shame.

 

Kurt gasped. “Blaine, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think!” he exclaimed, realising what it must have done to his boyfriend to wake up and find his daughter gone. “You left the monitor thing in my room last night and when I woke up this morning I could hear she was awake and you were still snoring so I figured I’d bring her downstairs and fix her a bottle and let you sleep for a while longer.”

 

Blaine moved to sit next to Kurt at the table, grabbing himself a banana from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. 

 

“Thank you.” He told Kurt earnestly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

 

Kurt shrugged, putting the now empty bottle on the table and moving Amelie to rest on his shoulder, burping her gently like his aunt had shown him all those years ago. “I didn’t have to. But I wanted to.” He answered Blaine with a smile. 

 

Blaine sat there in silence for a few moments, wondering what he did to deserve such a wonderful boyfriend before Kurts earlier words caught up with him.

 

“I can’t believe I slept through her crying.” He mumbled, burying his face in his arms on the kitchen table. 

 

“You didn’t.” Kurt was quick to reassure him. “I said I heard she was awake, not I heard her crying. She was just lying in the crib babbling to herself. She wasn’t distressed or anything. If she had been crying, you would have woken up.”

 

Blaine sat up slowly, looking at Kurt. “Do you want me to take her?” He asked, holding his arms out for Amelie. “I should probably think about getting both of us dressed and heading out; I don’t want to inconvenience your Dad and Carole any more than I have to.”

 

Kurt handed Amelie over but shook his head. “No, Dad and Carole have given me strict instructions not to let you leave before they come home. They said they want to talk to you.”

 

Blaine’s face paled at this information, sure that he would be getting another lecture about being irresponsible. “Did they say why they wanted to talk to me?” he asked Kurt worriedly.

 

Kurt smiled at him, trying to be reassuring as he thought back to the conversation he had had with Carole and his Dad that morning. “Stop panicking. They didn’t say what they wanted to talk about but they were both smiling when they said it so it can’t be too terrible. Let’s just enjoy the day together, okay?” Kurt waited for Blaine to nod hesitantly in agreement before he continued talking. “You mentioned last night you had some toys and things for Amelie in your car? Why don’t you go and bring a few of them in and we’ll set them up in the family room. It’ll be fun.”

 

Blaine let out a shaky breath before agreeing to Kurt’s plan. He didn’t have any other ideas and if he had to stay there until Burt and Carole got back then he may as well spend some time bonding with his daughter. Kurt being with them would be an added bonus; he fully intended to make the most of every minute his boyfriend wanted to spend with him from now on because he knew that sooner or later Kurt would realise how insane it was trying to date a guy with a baby and would leave him.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kurt was surprised by just how much he enjoyed his day with Blaine and Amelie. After Blaine had eaten breakfast and the three of them had played together in the family room for a while, they had decided it was a shame to stay indoors when the weather was so nice so the three of them packed up a picnic and went to the park. They sat in a secluded corner playing with Amelie and talking to each other for hours until eventually Amelie started getting fussy and they decided to take her home for a nap. By the time they got home Finn had gone out so while Amelie was sleeping the two boys curled up on the sofa together to watch a film. They chose The Lion King as it was a relatively short one and they could quietly sing along with all the songs. As the film ended they heard Amelie waking up so Blaine went to get her leaving Kurt to put the DVD away.

 

Blaine was just coming downstairs as the front door swung open and Burt and Carole walked in. He immediately paled, remembering Kurt’s words from this morning that they wanted to talk to him. He panic seemed to be in vain however as the couple quickly said hello before shutting themselves in the study. Blaine watched in confusion for a moment or two before heading back into the family room to join Kurt.

 

Blaine was on edge for the rest of the afternoon, expecting to be called into the study any minute. The longer he waited the more on edge he became until eventually Kurt had to take Amelie from him because he was shaking so much.

 

He was given a brief moment of respite when Finn arrived home. The football player Walked into the file room to say hello and stopped in confusion as he noticed the baby playing with his brother and his boyfriend.

 

"Who's the kid?" Finn asked, looking in confusion at Amelie.

 

"Hi Finn, how are you? Yes we've had a lovely day thanks for asking!" Kurt answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the boy.

 

"Yeah, yeah whatever dude. Seriously, where did the kid come from?" Finn replied, waving a hand dismissively at Kurt.

 

Blaine looked at Kurt, silently drawing strength from him. He knew if he wanted to keep Amelie he would have to tell people about her. Finn would just be the first of many.

 

"Finn, this is Amelie." Blaine told him, praying his voice didn't sound as shaky as it felt. "She's my daughter." He added when Finn didn't react.

 

Finn stood in silence for a moment and Kurt and Blaine both held their breaths waiting for the inevitable questions. What they weren't expecting was the furious look which took over his face before he turned and stormed from the room.

 

The two boys watched him go in shock, neither sure what to do or understanding why he had reacted that way to Blaine's introduction however they seemed to come to an unspoken agreement to leave him alone and wait for him to tell then what was wrong. They went back to playing with Amelie but were interrupted again not five minutes later when Burt and Carole came into the room with an ominous 'we need to talk'

 

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a nervous glance as they took their seats opposite Burt and Carole. There was a sudden increasing tension in the air as the all sat waiting for someone else to speak. After a few awkward minutes it was Burt who broke the silence with a deep sigh before he started speaking.

 

"Look, Blaine. Carole has told me about your situation." he began, looking anywhere but at the boy in front of him.

 

Blaine nodded his head, having suspected she would have. He knew Kurt had gone back downstairs after they had spoken last night and assumed he would have told Carole at least some of what was going on. It was too much to expect Kurt to deal with on his own. 

 

"Is this the bit where you tell me to get out and never contact Kurt again?" he asked Burt fearfully.

 

Kurt drew in a deep breath, holding Blaine's hand tight and hoping with all his heart that his dad wouldn't be that cruel.

 

"No." Burt answered simply, finding himself almost amused to see the twin looks of shock on the two boys faces. "I'm not going to do either of those things. Unless you want me to that is?" he said the last with an underlying teasing tone.

 

The teasing was lost on Blaine and he shook his head emphatically, "No, please don't." he pleaded

 

Burt smiled at him reassuringly before looking at Carole and silently conferring with her. Finally he turned back to the two teenagers in front of him.

 

"Carole and I have had a busy day today." He informed them, seemingly changing the subject. "We've spoken to a lot of people and taken advice on this. I need you to know this isn't an offer we are making lightly."

 

Kurt frowned. "Dad, you're not making sense. What offer?"

 

"We've talked it over, and we've decided we don't like the idea of leaving Blaine and his daughter homeless." Carole explained. So, first thing this morning we called his parents.

 

Blaine's eyes widened and he looked up at Carole.

 

"What did they say?" he asked fearfully.

 

Carole shook her head sadly. "They stand by what they told you yesterday." she told him softly, "you can go home whenever you want but you can't take Amelie."

 

Blaine stared down at his hands sorrowfully, biting his tongue to keep from crying. He didn't want to give her up but he couldn't see there was any way around it. He couldn't believe his parents would be so cold towards their own granddaughter.

 

"We want you both to move in here." Burt blurted out suddenly, having had as much as he could take of the sorrow on the usually cheery boy's face.

 

Blaine blinked at Burt in surprise, unsure he had heard the man correctly. "I can’t believe my parents will be very happy about that.” He answered cautiously, not willing to let himself believe Burt was being serious but not wanting the man to be lying either. “They were pretty adamant that if I’m keeping Amelie I should have to do it alone.

 

Burt sighed. “I’m not going to lie to you, they weren’t ecstatic about the idea. But they would both rather have you here than on the streets and your Dad still seems to think you’ll get bored of parenting in a week or two and decide to give up Amelie and go home so they were willing to go with it and they have agreed to letting you stay with us.”

 

Blaine blinked owlishly at Burt.

"What?" he asked, not quite believing he had just heard that sentence from his boyfriends father. "But why? Why would they agree to it? Surely me staying with you makes them kicking me out completely pointless." He pointed out. "And why would you want us here anyway? I've never lived with a baby before but I'm guessing it changes a lot of things."

 

"They still love you." Carole told him softly. "They might not love your choice to raise Amelie, but they love you nonetheless. Them kicking you out isn't about punishing you. You're still their little boy and when it comes down to it, they still want you safe which they know you will be here. They are just struggling to come to terms with Amelie being a part of your life now. They don't want to see you fail at raising her and have to pick up the pieces afterwards." She paused, looking at Blaine and the way he held Amelie lovingly in his lap, "Although I don't really think they need to worry about you failing." She added with a reassuring smile. Blaine smiled at her gratefully as Kurt squeezed his hand in silent support. "And we want you to stay because you're part of the family." Burt answered with a shrug. "You make my boy happy and you obviously love him just as much as he loves you. Neither Carole nor I want to see you hurt any more than we want to see Kurt of Finn hurt. You made a mistake but you're facing up to it, whether your parents agree or not, Carole and I are proud of you. We want to give you the chance to prove you can do this, to prove them wrong. Maybe having a baby in the house will change things but it'll be kind of nice and it's not like Carole and I have never done it before. I'm sure we'll all manage."

 

Blaine couldn't believe he was hearing this. His own parents were happy to let him and Amelie wander the streets but Burt and Carole, two people who barely knew him, were willing to take him in. But he knew it was too much, he couldn’t ask this of them. 

 

Carole saw the look on Blaine’s face and knew he was going to try and decline their offer so she decided to jump in before he could.

 

“We aren’t going to take no for an answer Blaine so don’t try. You and Amelie are welcome here for as long as you want to stay. Just say thank you and we’ll move on to house rules.”

 

Blaine shook his head. “It’s nice of you to offer, really, but I can’t expect you to just take us both in. I can’t afford to give you anything for letting us stay and-”

 

“You’re not asking us to do anything, we are offering. And we don’t want your money.” Burt interrupted him sternly. “Besides, if you can’t afford to give us anything, where are you planning on finding the money to pay for your own place?” 

 

Blaine looked down, not having an answer to that question. He knew Burt was right but he hated feeling like he needed their charity.

 

“Will it help if I tell you you’re parents have offered to give us something for your keep?” Carole asked Blaine, realising what was bothering him. 

 

Blaine looked up at her in confusion. “Why would they do that? They said they wouldn’t support me?” He asked her, trying to make sense of things. 

 

“As I understood it they actually said they wouldn't pay for school for you." Kurt interjected softly. "They also promised when they first found out about Amelie that they would make sure she was taken care of financially. I'm guessing they intend to keep that promise no matter who raises her.”

"They do care Blaine, about both of you. They just aren't too sure how to show it right now." Carole told him. 

 

Blaine nodded his head. He didn’t believe Carole but thinking about it he did know why his parents had offered Carole and Burt money. It was all about appearances just like always. He had no doubt that they did love him however he also had no doubt that had Carole and Burt not offered to let him and Amelie stay, they would have left him homeless until he gave up Amelie and went back to them with an apology.

 

“There are some rules which come with this offer Blaine.” Burt told him, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

 

Blaine nodded his head, having been expecting that. “Of course Sir, I’ll do my best to abide by any rules you feel need to be set.”

 

“Okay, rule number one, stop calling me Sir.” Burt told him. “It makes me feel old. You can call me Burt or if you really really feel the need to be formal call me Mr Hummel but never Sir, understood?” He asked, a smile on his face telling Blaine he wasn’t being too serious.

 

Blaine nodded his head, a smile on his face. “Understood.”

 

“Seriously now,” Burt continued, “The first rule is that we want you to promise you will stay in school. You need a good education behind you if you want to be able to provide for that little girl.”

 

Blaine frowned. “But I can’t. My parents won’t pay for me to stay at Dalton and even if they change their mind about that, who will look after Amelie while I’m at school?”

 

“We had a meeting with Principal Figgins at McKinley this morning.” Carole told him. “You can start there next semester with Kurt and Finn. The money your parents have said they will give us for your keep is far more than we want or need so Burt and I would like you to use the bulk of that to pay for day care for Amelie.” She pulled out some pamphlets and handed them to Blaine. “You can afford any of those for three days a week. I don’t work on Fridays so Amelie can stay with me then and Burt has moved a few things around at the shop so he can have Mondays off and look after her for you then.” She paused briefly to let this sink in before continuing. “Neither Burt nor I want to tell you how to raise Amelie. She’s your daughter and as such it is your responsibility to get her into a routine and to make all the important decisions about her life. We will just follow your lead and do what you need us to do, although you might want to bear in mind we’ve both raised children of our own and we are more than happy to give you advice if you ask for it.”

 

Blaine sat staring at Carole and Burt in awe. “This is too much, I can’t let you do all this for me.” He told them.

 

“Yes, you can.” Carole told him simply. “Kurt, talk some sense into your boyfriend.”

 

Kurt smiled, knowing the look in his Dad’s eye and realising that Blaine wasn’t going to win this argument. The things his Dad and Carole were proposing were going to happen and Blaine would end up going along with them. All Kurt could do was try and shorten the argument.

 

“Blaine honey, just let them help you. You won’t win in an argument with my Dad, like Carole told you earlier just say ‘thank you’ and move on.”

 

Blaine nodded his head, knowing Kurt was right even if he didn't feel right making his boyfriend's family go to so much trouble for him. “Thank you.” He said earnestly, swearing to himself silently that he would find a way to repay them for their kindness somehow. “From both of us, thank you so much.”

 

Burt waved him away with a shake of his wrist. “You can thank us by keeping your grades up.” 

 

He waited for Blaine to nod his head in agreement before continuing. “Moving on; you and Amelie will sleep in the guest room. Kurt,” he turned to look at his son, fixing him with a glare, “will sleep in his own room. If at any time you are both in the same bedroom, the door stays open.”

 

Both boys gave their agreement with minimal hesitation, having expected that rule since the moment Burt had dropped the bombshell about Blaine moving in. It was afterall the same rule that had been in place since before they started dating; ever since the Rachel Berry houseparty trainwreck extraveganza. 

 

“Other than that,” Burt continued, “the only thing we would ask of you is that you treat this house like your own. Just remember though that that goes both ways – you make yourself at home and don’t feel like a guest here but you will be expected to help out with the chores just the same as Finn and Kurt do and just like Kurt and Finn, you will have a curphew.”

 

“Of course, thank you.” Blaine answered, having given up on arguing by this point.

 

They sat in silence for a while, no one knowing quite what to say now. It was Burt who eventually broke the silence as it started to turn from comfortable into awkward.

 

“Do I get to meet this little girl of yours now Blaine?” he asked, smiling brightly at Blaine.

 

Blaine blinked and nodded, getting to his feet before walking around the coffee table to where Burt was sitting and gently handing Amelie to him. He stood awkwardly, watching Burt cooing over Amelie softly. As Carole leaned over to join Burt in making a fuss of Amelie, Kurt moved over to stand behind Blaine, slipping his arms round him and whispering in his ear.

 

“Didn’t I tell you everything would be okay?” He asked Blaine softly. “You’ve got plenty of people on your side.”

 

None of them noticed Finn standing in the doorway watching the scene unfolding with a look of hurt plain to see on his face. He only stayed a few minutes, just long enough to see his Mom cooing over Blaine’s baby like it was the most amazing thing in the world, before he turned on his heel and stormed out of the house, the sound of the door slamming ringing in his ears behind him.

 

The rest of the summer went far too quickly for Kurt and Blaine’s liking. The day after everything was cleared for Blaine to move in with Kurt’s family, Carole was left babysitting Amelie while Kurt, Blaine and Burt drove to Blaine’s parents house to pick up some of his stuff. Blaine had never realised until it was time to pack up his life into boxes, just how much stuff he had. Eventually, after much deliberation, Blaine packed the essentials; clothes, toiletries, school stuff and his guitar, along with some photographs and keepsakes, into a few boxes which were loaded into Kurt’s Navigator and opted to leave the rest of his things there. His parents were still cross with him but after a long, and emotional telephone conversation with his Mom the night before, he now felt confident that one day he may be able to re-build some sort of relationship with them, even if it was never as strong as it used to be. He left one of the pictures Jess had left him on the work surface in the kitchen. After all, his parents may not approve but Amelie was still their granddaughter; they deserved to have a picture of her at least.

 

After that, Blaine adjusted to his new living arrangements remarkably quickly. True to their words Burt and Carole didn’t try to tell Blaine how to care for Amelie but they did offer good advice any time they were asked for it. Kurt continued to help out whenever Blaine needed him but like Burt and Carole, he never tried to tell Blaine how to do things; he merely followed Blaine’s lead and constantly reassured his boyfriend that he was a good parent. Finn however proved to be a little more difficult. He made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with Amelie and avoided Blaine as much as he could. Blaine missed his burgeoning friendship with Kurt’s step brother however whenever he tried to talk to him, Finn simply shut him down or tuned him out. Blaine never said anything about Finns attitude towards him as he didn’t want to cause problems for the family and it seemed like no one else had noticed, but still, Finn’s treatment of him hurt.

 

The week before school was due to start, Blaine’s brother called to announce he was in town and wanted to see Blaine. Kurt watched on in shock as Blaine paced circles around the family room, talking to himself under his breath. Amelie sat in her bouncer, clapping her hands together in excitement as she watched her daddy pace. It took Kurt nearly an hour to find out what was so terrible about Cooper Anderson coming to visit. The fact that Cooper was a bit of a prima donna and that Blaine felt he didn’t really understand him Kurt could believe, but hearing that to the best of Blaine’s knowledge, Cooper knew nothing about Amelie’s existence shocked Kurt to the core. How could Cooper not know about Amelie? He’d like to think that if Finn ever got a girl pregnant, Kurt would be one of the first to know but obviously things didn’t work quite the same way in the Anderson household. Eventually, Kurt convinced Blaine to call Cooper back and invite him over for dinner the night before school started.

 

Despite a rough start, the dinner had been a success. Finn hadn’t been there, having announced an hour before Cooper was due to arrive that he was going to Rachel’s. Burt, Carole and Kurt had all volunteered to go out for the evening and let Blaine and his brother have some time on their own but Blaine had been adamant that he wanted them there. In the end they had compromised, everyone staying for dinner before Burt and Carole went out to see a movie. Kurt had been planning on going to visit Mercedes however one look at Blaine’s face as Burt and Carole made their excuses and Kurt knew his boyfriend needed him to stay. 

 

Conversation over dinner had been stilted. Blaine had introduced Amelie as his daughter when Cooper had arrived but he hadn’t explained and while Cooper kept hinting that he wanted Blaine to tell him everything, Blaine wasn’t taking any notice. No one else had been quite sure how to act with the tension and so aside from some small talk, they had been largely silent. Once Burt and Carole had left and just Cooper, Blaine, Kurt and Amelie remained, Blaine could no longer avoid his brothers questions. Kurt sat and held his boyfriends hand while Blaine poured his heart out to his brother, telling him everything that had happened in the past two years that led him to this point.

 

When Blaine finally finished his story Coopers face was blank and Blaine found himself scared that he’d just lost his last link to his parents. So he was shocked when Cooper suddenly launched himself at his little brother pulling him into a tight hug. Slowly, Blaine allowed himself to relax, accepting the comfort and compassion that his brother was offering. Once they had both calmed down, Cooper asked if he could hold his niece. As he sat there, holding her tight and cooing over her, he told Blaine what he needed to hear. That he loved him and was proud of him. That he thought Amelie was perfect and looked scarily like both her Mom and her Dad at the same time. He told him that their parents were idiots for shutting Blaine and his daughter out and promised to try and talk them round and said that he was really quite excited about being an Uncle. When Blaine asked, Cooper explained that all their parents had said about Blaine moving out was that they had fallen out and Blaine would come round and go home eventually. It saddened Kurt to hear that Blaine’s parents would be so dismissive about what Blaine was going through but he knew this wasn’t the time for him to pass judgement; he was there only to support Blaine.

 

Cooper helped bathe Amelie and put her to bed before he left, watching in awe as his baby brother looked after the little girl like he’d been doing it his whole life. Secretly, Blaine was thanking any god who may possibly be listening that Amelie wasn’t being awkward this evening like she usually was when it came to bath time. Eventually however Cooper had to leave but he did so with promises to visit more often and reiterating that he would talk to their parents. Blaine wasn’t holding his breath that Cooper would be able to change anything, but it was good to know he had someone on his side.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Before they knew it, the summer had passed and it was time to go back to school. Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about starting at McKinley. He’d heard enough from Kurt and the rest of New Directions to know what he was walking in to. It would be worlds away from Dalton. Still, at least he knew it wouldn’t be as bad as it had been for him at Westerville South High; at least at McKinley he knew there would be more than one person willing to speak to him. He would have the whole of New Directions on his side. 

 

Over the summer, they had all found out about Amelie. It was Finn’s fault. After he had been introduced to Amelie he’d run straight off and told Rachel. Rachel of course couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it and within an hour, the whole glee club knew Blaine had a kid and was living with the Hudmel’s. Their reactions had been varied. Most of them had been okay with him, if not overly enthusiastic. Brittany had just been confused and had asked Blaine who the father was leaving Blaine gaping in horror at a giggling Kurt while Santana tried to explain to Brittany. Rachel and Mercedes had been hostile, trying to insinuate that Blaine was going to ruin Kurt’s life. Kurt had quickly stamped on that, telling the girls to leave and not come buck until they could be civil before spending the next three hours reassuring Blaine that he wasn’t ruining anything. Puck had been really weird with him to begin with but seemed okay now. Quinn had been MIA since the day she found out. No one had seen or heard from her since however Brittany said she thought the Fabray’s were supposed to be going on vacation at some point over the summer so they all just assumed she wasn’t around. The only one whose reaction really bothered Blaine was Finn. The taller boy had barely spoken more than 3 words to Blaine since the day he found out. Blaine was hurt but he hoped starting at McKinley may change things for the better.

 

As it happened, he didn’t actually make it into school on his first day. He’d arrived at the nursery Amelie was supposed to be going to three days a week to drop her off in the morning only to find it closed. A few phone calls later he had made the discovery that he had signed Amelie up for what he thought must be the only nursery in Ohio which didn’t open until 9am, an hour after he was supposed to be at school. He’d stayed at home with Amelie that day, desperately calling round trying to make alternative arrangements. He had soon found another nursery which would take her however had hit across a stumbling block when the nursery she was already registered with had told him they couldn’t refund the down payment he had made for Amelie’s first term there. 

 

He’d explained everything to Burt when the man had popped home for lunch, hoping for some advice as he himself had no idea what to do. He couldn’t miss the first hour of school three days a week to take Amelie to nursery but he couldn’t just leave her sitting on the doorstep until they opened either. Burt had told him to calm down and to stop worrying about it and promised to have a think about what they could do. He’d gone back to work soon after, leaving Blaine alone with Amelie once more. It was at that point that Blaine realised this was the first time he had been truly alone with her since the first day he had her. The realisation scared him a little. He’d been in a room along with her plenty of times since that day, but there was always someone nearby. Now, there was no one except him. But when he thought about it, it had just been the two of them all morning as well and nothing had gone wrong. He felt a weight that he hadn’t even known was there lifting from him at this realisation. He could do this alone if he had to. He wasn’t going to let any harm come to his little girl.

 

When Burt and Carole arrived home that evening, they summoned Blaine into the kitchen to talk to them. Blaine left Amelie with Kurt in the family room while he went to talk to the adults. He approached nervously, seeing them both sitting at the table waiting for him. He took a seat opposite, suddenly feeling like he as in trouble. This was just how he imagined being summoned to the headmasters office must feel.

 

“We wanted to talk to you about what happened this morning.” Carole began, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over them. “Why didn’t you check the opening hours of the nursery when you signed Amelie up over the summer?”

 

Blaine looked down at the table. He’d asked himself that same question many times today. The truth was it hadn’t occurred to him. Carole had given him the pamphlets so he assumed she had looked and they would all be okay. Also, he’d assumed all nursery’s opened early. It was such a stupid mistake to make and yet it was going to cost him every penny of the money he had in his savings account to make it right. He felt like such a failure and the way Carole and Burt were looking at him in disappointment just made it worse.

 

“I don’t know.” He answered honestly, staring down at the table, trying to fight back the tears that had been lurking in the background all day.

 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Burt and Carole having a silent conversation with their eyes while Blaine stared at the table, wondering if this would be the point where they told him what a failure he was as a parent, called child services to take Amelie and packed him back off to his parents.

 

“Stop looking so worried Kid.” Burt sighed eventually, having had enough of watching Blaine looking like his world had ended. “We can fix this.”

 

“We can?” Blaine asked uncertainly.

 

“We can.” Burt affirmed. “But, if we help you out with this one, you need to promise me you’ll check these things from now on. You can’t just make assumptions, that little girl relies on you.”

 

Blaine released the breath he had been holding with a nod of his head. “I swear, it will never happen again.” His told them earnestly. “I still can’t believe I let it happen this time.”

 

The conversation was easier after that. Burt explained that he had spoken to one of the guys at the shop who was willing to open up for him in the morning so Burt could drop Amelie off at nursery. In return, Burt expected Blaine to make it up at him by working three hours a week for him at the shop. He told Blaine it was up to him when he did it; he could go straight from school three nights a week and work for an hour before he had to pick Amelie up or he could find someone to watch Amelie for a few hours at the weekend and do it then. Blaine was so grateful he didn’t even hesitate before agreeing; promising he’d go straight to the shop from school the days Amelie was at nursery. He walked out of the kitchen a much happier person, Carole and Burt watching him go with matching smiles on their faces.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Sam Evans moved in to the Hudmel house. Tension was still thick between Finn and Blaine and Sam’s addition to the household only made matters worse. After much debate, it had been agreed that Sam would bunk in with Finn as a temporary measure and it was obvious to Blaine that Finn was doing his best to make sure Sam was on his side in the silent feud that seemed to be going on between the two boys. Blaine couldn’t help but feel like the two boys were talking about him behind his back and he was fed up of silence descending or of them leaving the room whenever he entered. Things briefly got better in the run up to Sectionals, Blaine and Finn coming to a rocky truce however as soon as the high of the competition was over, things quickly started to slip back to how they had been before.

 

The family barely made it through the holiday without any troubles, the tension in the house, so thick it could be cut with a knife, putting everyone on edge and making 10 month old Amelie fractious which put everyone else even more on edge. It was a relief to go back to school the following Monday however the relief was short lived as in glee club that afternoon, the argument which had been brewing between Blaine and Finn for the past 5 months finally erupted.

 

The resulting explosion of the two boys screaming at each other across the crowded choir room shocked the whole glee club to the core; none of them had ever seen Blaine behave quite like that. Kurt however had known it was coming. He knew how much Finns behaviour was hurting the shorter boy. Leaving Blaine to cool down on his own, Kurt sought out his step brother to give him a piece of his mind. He was shocked however to walk into the guys locker room, somewhere he never ventured if he could help it and was only entering now as a last resort, and overheard Puck tearing a strip off Finn.

 

"What the hell was that man?" Puck demanded, shoving Finn back by his shoulder. "You've been down on Blaine ever since he moved in with you guys, what the hell did he do to piss you off so badly?"

 

Finn shrugged, dropping down to sit on a bench, his head dropping into his hands. Kurt quietly shuffled closer, peering round the end of a row of lockers to see the two boys he was eavesdropping on.

 

"Don't give me that." Puck ground out, pulling Finns hands away from his face. "You've got a problem with him and I'm not letting you leave here until you've told me what it is. Spill."

 

Finns whole face changed at that and he rose to his feet, glaring angrily at puck. "You want to know what my problem with him is? Fine! It's the same as my problem with you!"

 

Puck frowned, taking a step back. "Dude I thought we were cool now? You still have a problem with me?" He asked, hurt creeping into his tone.

 

Finn sighed, deflating slightly after his burst of anger.

 

"We are cool." He started, trying to decide how to word what he wanted to say. "God you're going to think I'm so stupid!" He groaned to himself, burying his head back in his hands.

 

Kurt’s eyes widened as a light bulb flickered on in his head and he realised what was going on. Something must have been in the air as Puck immediately caught on.

 

"You're jealous aren't you?" He asked him, working it out as he went. "You’re jealous of both of us but with me you can ignore it because at least I lost Beth in the end just like you did. But Blaine still has Amelie and they even live with you do you can't escape them. You're jealous that he has her and you never got to have your daughter."

 

"Pretty stupid huh?" Finn asked, dropping back down on the bench with a thud.

 

"No." Puck answered him honestly. "I get it. I was kind of jealous too when I first found out and I know Quinn was; what do you think sparked her skank phase? But you know what I realised? I'm kind of glad it's him and not me doing the parenting thing. Babies are great when you are playing with them and cuddling them and doing the fun stuff but most of the time they are just hard work. They cry, they poop, they puke everywhere. I'm not ready for that and I'm kind of glad Quinn let Shelby have Beth. I'd have screwed her up for life."

 

Finn sat listening to Puck. Now he thought about, he was right. Blaine did always look pretty tired these days. And Finn didn't spend much time around Amelie but the stink when her diaper needed changing was awful, he couldn't imagine what that must be like to change. Suddenly Finn found himself starting to feel guilty for the way he had been treating Blaine. The guy was dealing with a lot and Finn was just making things worse for him.

 

"I think I need to talk to Blaine."

 

Kurt didn’t stick around to hear the rest of their conversation. Instead he turned around and slipped silently out of the locker room, going in search of his boyfriend.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Finn caught up with Blaine later that night as he was getting Amelie ready for bed.

 

"Can I help?" he asked hesitantly, sticking his head around the bedroom door.

 

"Why? Are you looking for something else to start picking on me over now?" Blaine asked sarcastically, his back to Finn.

 

Finn sighed deeply and stepped into the room properly. "I wanted to apologise." he paused, waiting for Blaine to react. Blaine didn't disappoint. He lifted Amelie, placing her on her shoulder and swung round to face Finn, anger all over his face.

 

"What do you want to apologise for Finn? For putting me down constantly? For ignoring me as much as you can? For all the things you've said about me and my daughter when you thought no one was listening? What?!"

 

Finn took a step back in surprise, bringing his hands up in an attempt to calm Blaine. It hadn't occurred to him the other boy would still be mad. He thought he could just say sorry and that would be it, they could all move on. He was now realising this was going to take more than an apology; he was going to have to explain himself.

 

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you and Amelie since you moved in here. I just... I shouldn't have done or said any of the things I have to you in the last few months." Finn said earnestly, losing the courage to explain himself at the last minute, sure Blaine would just laugh when he heard his reason.

 

Blaine deflated slightly at the earnest time and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, batting the space next to him for Finn.

 

"So why did you treat us like that then?" Blaine asked as Finn sat, hurt creeping into his tone. “I thought we were friends? You never seemed to have a problem with me before.”

 

Finn looked at his hands in silence. Blaine was about to give up on getting an answer when the older boy started speaking.

 

"you know about Puck and Quinn's daughter right?" he waited for Blaine to nod in agreement before he continued, "did you know Quinn tried to claim it was my baby to start with?"

 

"Kurt did mention it once, yes." Blaine answered him honestly.

 

Finn looked up at Blaine briefly before looking back down. "I spent a few months thinking Beth was mine before the truth came out. I loved her. I went to scan appointments, I ran around after Quinn trying to keep her happy; I was actually looking forward to being a dad. She was talking about giving it up but I figured I'd convince her should keep it before it was born. Then Rachel told me Puck was the father not me and my world collapsed. No one really cared about my feelings, they all just moved on and assumed I had done the same but it was so hard. After Beth was born and had gone with Shelby it got better; it helped that Puck and Quinn lost her too, at least I didn't have to see them being all gooey over her. But then you came along with Amelie and everything came back."

 

"So what are you trying to say, you were picking on me because you want a baby?" Blaine asked in confusion.

 

"No!" Finn exclaimed in horror, "hell no, I really don't. But when I thought I was having one I did. I'm just jealous I guess that I lost that chance."

 

"You realise you're an idiot don't you?" Blaine asked bluntly.

 

"Huh?" Finns face crumpled in confusion as he looked at Blaine.

 

"I get it, okay?" Blaine told him. "I found out about Amelie then a few days later was promptly told I wasn't allowed to have anything to do with her and it really hurt. Picking her up from the hospital that day was both the best and worst day of my life; I got to bring my baby home but I knew what the consequences would be and I was terrified. But I loved her, I’ve loved her since the moment I found out she existed. So I did what I had to do for her. Amelie is quite possibly the only chance I will get at having a kid of my own - it’s not easy for two guys to have a baby together. But you, you'll get married one day and have loads of mini Finn's and Finnette's. You just have to wait until the time is right. Believe me, being a teenage patent kind of sucks."

 

Finn sat there nodding his head, realising how right Blaine was and understanding the full extent of what an idiot he was. Then he heard Blaine's last sentence and he frowned.

 

"Wait, what do you mean it sucks? I thought you loved having her; you make it look so easy?!" he asked in surprise.

 

Blaine shrugged, "I do love having her but right now it’s Friday night and my boyfriend is at the movies with Mercedes while I'm at home with Amelie. He'll get home and go to his room to bed while I will sleep in here on my own. In the morning I'll be up with this one at 7am while everyone else sleeps in. By the time you get up, I will have changed at least two diapers, fed her, bathed her, played with her, put her down for a nap, done a bit of home work while I could. Kurt will spend the day at the mall with the girls, then he'll come home and tell me all about while we watch a movie or something and the whole time all I'll be thinking about is how I wish I could have been there. It's hard having to make so many sacrifices."

 

Finn nodded his head, realising for the first time what Blaine was giving up. Slowly he began to form a plan. He couldn't give Blaine his old life back, but maybe he could help.

 

"I really am sorry man." He told Blaine. "I'm going to make it up to you I swear."

 

Blaine smiled gratefully, "Don't worry about making it up; just promise me things will change?"

 

Finn replied without hesitation. "I promise."

 

As it turned out, Finn’s idea of helping was one which both Blaine and Kurt were grateful for, even if the resulting conversation with Burt and Carole was exceptionally awkward.

 

The week after Blaine and Finn resolved their issues, Burt and Carole came into the family room on Friday evening while Kurt and Blaine were watching a movie together and sat down with them. Carole told them how Finn had talked to her and explained how difficult Blaine was finding things. Then she dropped the bombshell that he had suggested they be allowed to share a room.

 

When Blaine had moved in, neither of them had hesitated to agree to the separate bedroom rule. Sharing a bed wasn’t a step they had taken at that point aside from the rare occasion that they had fallen asleep watching a movie and it was almost a relief to know they still had to keep that space between them. But since Westside Story and losing their virginity to each other, they had been finding it harder and harder to keep that distance between them. Neither of them would have felt comfortable doing anything more than cuddling with other people in the house; just knowing Amelie was asleep down the hall had been bad enough the one time they had found themselves home alone for a few hours, but they were both feeling the distance and just wanted to be able to spend more time together away from the prying eyes of their friends and relatives. Still, neither of them would have even contemplated asking to be allowed to share a room. 

 

They were both aware of the deep crimson blush on their faces as Carole calmly explained how her and Burt had talked it over and agreed to re-assess the sleeping arrangements in the house. With Amelie getting older, they were both agreed that she couldn’t share a room with Blaine forever and they knew from experience that when you had a small child you needed some grown up space. Burt made it clear to them that he was still reluctant to agree to the room change before launching into a lecture on the importance of being safe and respecting each other. Carole let him talk for a few minutes, knowing it would make him feel better just to know he’d said what he wanted to say before she put a hand on his arm, quietening him.

 

“If you don’t want to share a room, no one’s going to force you.” She told them calmly. “But if you want to, either now or in a few weeks or months time, we aren’t going to stop you. You’re old enough and responsible enough to decide for yourselves.”

 

The boys sat in silence, neither sure what the correct response was. It was Blaine who finally spoke, figuring from the colour on Kurt’s cheeks that he wasn’t going to be capable of responding any time soon.

 

“Thank you Burt, Carole.” He told them, “I think Kurt and I need to talk about it before we rush into anything but thank you for trusting us.”

 

Both Carole and Burt visibly relaxed at Blaine’s response and for some reason Blaine felt like they had just passed some sort of hidden test. Nonetheless, he was relieved as Burt and Carole bid them goodnight and without any further comment disappeared up the stairs to bed.

 

Once they had gone, Kurt buried his head in Blaine’s shoulder with an embarrassed groan.

 

“Oh my God, could that have been any more awkward?” He mumbled into Blaine’s neck.

 

Blaine just laughed softly. “Probably not.” He answered honestly. “But I can’t bring myself to care all that much.” He lifted Kurts face slightly so he could look him in the eye and felt his face break out into a grin. “We’ve got permission to move in together.” 

 

Kurt smiled back, resting his forehead against Blaine’s. “I guess we do.” He pulled back, getting to his feet and holding out a hand to Blaine. “Well Mr Anderson,” he said playfully, “Shall I show you to our room?”

 

“Lead the way, Mr Hummel.” Blaine answered him. 

 

As they walked up the stairs hand in hand, Blaine made a mental note that he really should thank Finn next time he saw him.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Christmas was difficult for Blaine. 

 

Christmas-eve wasn't too bad; Cooper had come over to visit and the two had introduced everyone to some Anderson family traditions, namely the family talent show. They had all laughed as Burt had tried and failed to perform a series of magic tricks which he swore used to work when he was a kid. For a while, Blaine almost managed to forget why he was here and not at home with his own parents. Unfortunately, reality came crashing down when Cooper looked at his watch and announced he had to leave if he was going to be home in time to go to midnight mass with his family. 

 

By lunchtime on Christmas day he had had enough. Copper had called that morning to wish him a merry Christmas and to apologise for running out the night before but hearing all of his extended family in the background having fun without him had really stung. When it was time for Amelie to go down for a nap Blaine saw his opportunity and took it. He excused himself to take Amelie upstairs but instead of grabbing the baby monitor and taking it back downstairs he slipped into his and Kurt's room and curled up in a tight ball under the comforter. 

 

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there trying to block out the world but he was brought back to himself by the feel of warm arms wrapping around him.

 

"I wondered where you had gone." Kurt whispered to him softly. "We missed you downstairs."

 

Blaine just hummed quietly, not really feeling in the mood to talk. 

 

"I'm sorry this is so hard for you." Kurt told him, knowing without being told what was wrong with Blaine.

 

"I'm sorry I'm ruining Christmas for you." Blaine answered in a whisper.

 

Kurt pulled away from Blaine before climbing over him, squeezing himself in the gap between Blaine and the wall so he could look him in the eyes.

 

"You aren't ruining anything." Kurt told him adamantly. 

 

Blaine snorted softly, raising an eyebrow at Kurt.

 

"Really? Because last I knew Christmas was supposed to be a happy time and all I'm doing is being miserable. I can't see how that's any fun for the rest of you."

 

Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically.

 

"When will you work it out Blaine, you and Amelie are part of the family now. We all love you and we want you here; it wouldn't be Christmas if you weren't! I know we aren't your real family and we can't replace them. You’re allowed to be upset, but you need to stop focussing on what you don't have and start thinking about what you do. You have us and Cooper and the Warblers and New Directions. Start letting us in, please. Don't let everything that's happened with your parents define you."

 

Blaine bit his bottom lip, thinking about what Kurt was saying. He knew he had people who cared but it didn't make it easier. His parents didn't want him. They were so ashamed of him that they would rather tell the rest of the family that he had run off with his boyfriend than tell them the truth. How was he supposed to move on from that?

 

Seeing Kurt was still looking expectantly at him, Blaine knew he had to say something.

 

"You're right Kurt." He told him, knowing what he wanted to hear, "But I think I just need a bit of time to myself for now. Please? I promise I'll come down in a bit and we can go back to celebrating."

 

Kurt looked deeply into Blaine's eyes, searching them for something. Whatever he was looking for he found as he slowly nodded his head before climbing back over Blaine and standing up.

 

"Okay. I'll go and leave you for a while. But I expect you back downstairs with Amelie when she wakes up. Agreed?"

 

Blaine sighed softly, knowing it was going to be the best he got. "agreed." he answered, too tired to argue.

 

Kurt leaned over and kissed him softly without words before slipping out of the room and leaving Blaine with his thoughts.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Blaine got a little better after that but Kurt, Carole and Burt all noticed he still had his moody moments. These were particularly obvious when Carole or Burt were being particularly parental towards Kurt or Finn. 

 

The week before Amelie's first birthday, Carole took matters into her own hands.

 

The members of New Directions had taken it upon themselves to organise birthday party for Amelie. It wasn’t going to be anything big or flashy, just them and a few of the Warblers along with Burt and Carole and Cooper all getting together to celebrate Amelie’s first year of life, eat cakes, make a fuss of Amelie and have a fun afternoon. After much debate Blaine had invited Amelie’s Grandparents, Jess’s parents, however they had been very firm in their response that not only did they not want to attend, but they would appreciate it if Blaine and Amelie would stay away from them. Blaine couldn’t say he was sorry, he still blamed them for what had happened to his best friend.

 

Once all the details for the party had been finalised and invitations sent out, Carole made her move. She finished work early one afternoon, things being quiet enough that she was able to slip away without causing any trouble. She’d managed to slip a blank invitation out of the pile when her and Burt had been tasked with addressing them so she took this and headed to the house in Westerville that she had only been to once before.

 

Arriving on Christopher and Eleanor Anderson’s doorstep, Carole took a few deep breaths before knocking on the door. It didn’t take long before the door swung open to reveal the smiling face of Eleanor Anderson. Carole found herself stunned that the woman could smile so brightly when so many of Blaine’s smiles, especially those not directed at Amelie or Kurt, seemed so fake. She was almost ashamed to find a sense of satisfaction in watching Eleanor’s face drop when she realised who it was on her doorstep.

 

“What do you want?” Eleanor asked sharply, her voice softening as she added, “Is Blaine okay?”

 

“That really depends on your definition of okay doesn’t it?” Carole asked her. “Can I come in?” she added, beginning to feel uncomfortable standing on the doorstep. 

 

Eleanor beckoned her inside with an apology, leading her through to the kitchen and offering her a drink. They made small talk while Eleanor made tea, Carole learning that Christopher Anderson, Blaine’s father, was away on business and not expected back for a few days. She was momentarily disappointed as she had hoped to talk to both the Andersons however she realised that this could actually work in her favour when it came to the conversation she wanted to have. Once they were both sat at the table with fresh cups of tea in their hands, Carole decided to address the real reason she was here.

 

“Blaine misses you.” She told Eleanor bluntly. “He tries to hide it, but it’s obvious to anyone who pays attention. Burt and I do our best but we aren’t you and your husband. He needs you.”

 

Eleanor sighed, turning away from Carole in an attempt to hide the shame on her face. 

 

“What do you want me to do?” She asked softly. “We miss him too but Christopher is right, we can’t support the decision he has made to raise that child. He’s going to ruin his whole life before it’s even started, what sort of parents would we be if we just let him get on with it?”

 

Carole shook her head. She understood what Eleanor was trying to say, but she couldn’t agree with it. In her mind being a good parent meant supporting your children in doing what they wanted with their lives, even when you didn’t agree with it. And Amelie was their granddaughter; she didn’t understand how they could just disown her like she was nothing. Reaching into her bag she pulled out the invitation to Amelie’s party.

 

“I know you don’t approve of Blaine’s decision to raise Amelie, but next week is her first birthday and I know it would mean the world to him if you and your husband would come to her birthday party.”

 

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea...” Eleanor said, staring fixedly at the invitation in her hands.

 

“Just think about it.” Carole told her, placing a hand on hers comfortingly. “I haven’t told Blaine I was coming and I won’t; I don’t want him to be disappointed if you decide not to come. But I know how much it would mean to him for you to be there. Come and see him with Amelie, see how good he is with her. You might be surprised.”

 

They sat in an awkward silence for a while, Eleanor never once looking away from the invitation in her hands.

 

“I should probably get home.” Carole finally broke the silence, getting to her feet and moving across the kitchen to put her cup in the dishwasher. “Thank you for your time. And please, think about what I said?”

 

Eleanor just nodded her head silently before suddenly coming back to herself, looking up at Carole with a very fake smile on her face.

 

“Shall I show you out?” She asked.

 

Carole just shook her head, recognising that Eleanor didn’t really want to go anywhere.

 

“Don’t worry, I can let myself out. I’ll hope to see you next weekend.”

 

She didn’t wait for an answer, simply turning and walking to the front door, getting in her car and driving home to her family.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~

 

The day of the party quickly arrived and the Hudmel household was alive with activity. The girls from New Directions had arrived early and Kurt had quickly set them all to work. Quinn, Santana and Brittany were busy in the kitchen helping Carole make sandwiches and ice cup cakes while Rachel, Mercedes and Tina had been put in charge of decorations as Sugar sat and watched them, occasionally shouting out orders for ‘a little more pink’ or to move something higher or lower. The boys, who had arrived soon after the girls had quickly been banned from helping as Kurt had declared they were just getting in the way. Blaine quickly found them a job to do, handing a fussy Amelie to Finn and suggesting they look after her. With the exception of Puck and possibly Finn, he wouldn’t trust any of them with his daughter alone for more than five minutes however with all of them together and in the same house as him, he figured things couldn’t go too badly wrong.

 

Soon after midday Blaine’s warbler friends arrived and the party started. The two rival glee clubs quickly bonded with each other and Amelie was in her element with all the attention she was getting, happily being passed from person to person receiving hugs and treats. The sandwiches and cakes which the girls had spent so long preparing that morning were quickly devoured with so many teenage boys in the house but they made sure to give Amelie a small cupcake, everyone laughing as she got it all over her face despite the small bite size pieces Blaine was giving it to her in. Then, when Amelie was all cleaned up and everyone including Burt and Carole had found a seat, they started opening presents.

 

They were nearly finished with opening Amelie’s impressive stack of gifts when the doorbell rang. Blaine looked up in confusion, his eyes darting round the people in the room trying to work out who was missing. He was still trying to work out who was at the door when Carole came back into the room, two people behind her who Blaine never expected to see.

 

“Mom, Dad?” Blaine said in confusion, his brow furrowing. He hoped his parents weren’t here to have another go at making him give up Amelie, especially not today of all days. As he contemplated their reasons for being there he found himself wishing his brother could have been here. Instead, Cooper had called the night before full of apologies telling Blaine he couldn’t make it as he’d just had a call from his agent offering him a part in a commercial. It wasn’t much but the guy they had cast had pulled out last minute and Cooper was needed for filming the very next day. Blaine had tried to be happy for his brother but he couldn’t help but resent him a little. Cooper had promised to be there for Blaine and his daughter yet here he was skipping out on Amelie’s first birthday for a role in a commercial. It didn’t feel like he was there for them.

 

Blaine couldn’t help the small stirring of hope in the pit of his stomach as he watched his parents walk into the room, sitting nervously on the couch in some seats which had been vacated by Nick and Jeff as soon as they saw their friends parents arrive. No one spoke and as it became apparent that that wasn’t going to change, Kurt quickly tried to diffuse the situation by handing Blaine another present to help Amelie unwrap. 

 

As the last few gifts were opened, the easy banter that had been present before Blaine’s parents arrived started to return and Blaine began to relax. Finally he looked around at all the new toys Amelie had gained and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

 

“Thank you so much guys, I really never expected any of you to buy her gifts!” He frowned slightly before adding “now do any of you have any ideas where I’m supposed to put all this?” There was laughter from the group and a reassuring ‘we’ll find somewhere’ from Burt as the group began to break up, small factions starting their own conversations as it became clear the present opening was finished. Blaine looked down at Amelie noticing she was looking tired and decided to take her to put her down for a nap. He’d just gotten to his feet when he realised his parents were headed his way and he found the internal panic re-awakening. He looked around hurriedly trying to find an escape but didn’t manage to find one before his parents were upon him.

 

“It’s good to see you son, you’re looking well.”

 

He looked up at his father as he spoke to him, trying to work out how he was supposed to react to that when he felt an arm slide around his waist.

 

“Good Evening Mr and Mrs Anderson.” Kurt spoke primly, conveying his disapproval of them with just the one phrase.

 

Both of the Andersons acknowledged him politely before focussing their attention back on Blaine and Amelie.

 

“It was good of you to come” Blaine finally settled on a response to his father, trying his best to be polite but not wanting to sound overly welcoming to the people who threw him out and disowned his daughter.

 

“Carole invited us.” His mother told him softly. “She said you were missing us.”

 

Blaine nodded. “I am.” He told them honestly.

 

“You know you can come home whenever you want-“ Mr Anderson started however he was cut off by Blaine,

 

“Yes, I know. I can come home whenever I want but only if I’m willing to give up my daughter.” He spat, suddenly angry with them. Angry that they threw him out in the first place but even more so that they would choose today to bring this up again.

 

Amelie chose that point to yawn widely from where she rested on Blaine’s shoulder. Mrs Anderson saw this and smiled softly at her. “She looks tired.” She commented gently, no hint of accusation in her tone.

 

Unfortunately, Blaine was already riled up by this point and snapped back. “She is tired, it’s been a long day and I was just taking her for a nap when I was interrupted. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll carry on with that now.”

 

He turned and walked away, signalling that the conversation was over. Mr and Mrs Anderson were left standing in front of Kurt, staring after the retreating back of their son.

 

“He’s not going to change his mind you know.” Kurt told them quietly. “He loves her, he wouldn’t be able to make himself give her up now even if he wanted to.”

 

Mrs Anderson nodded her head, knowing Kurt was right and wishing there was a way forward from this. Mr Anderson however just snorted. 

 

“He’ll come around eventually. Just as soon as he realises what he’s missing out on by being tied down.”

 

Kurt shook his head. “If you think that, you don’t know your son very well.” He told him angrily. He didn’t wait for a reply, simply turning and walking away, knowing that Blaine needed him right now. As he left, he could hear his father angrily talking to the Andersons and he smiled sadly, knowing they would no longer be there when he finally convinced Blaine to go back downstairs.

 

Kurt found Blaine in Amelie’s room, standing over her crib watching her sleep. He moved up behind him, pulling him into an embrace. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Kurt told him softly.

 

“S’not your fault. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” Blaine told him, never taking his eyes off Amelie.

 

“I know it’s not my fault but I’m still sorry. I’m sorry this is so difficult for you. I’m sorry you’ve had to choose between her and them. I’m sorry I didn’t know they were coming so I could have warned you. If it’s any consolation, I think my dad just threw them out.”

 

A faint smile ghosted over Blaine’s lips before he sighed deeply. “I miss them every day. Is it so wrong for me to want all three of them?”

 

“No.” Kurt answered simply. “It’s not wrong at all for you to want that. Just keep trying. Keep in touch with them, invite them to things. Send them pictures of you and Amelie. When they are ready, then they will let you know.”

 

Blaine turned pulling Kurt closer to him.

 

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asked in awe.

 

Kurt just smiled at him. “Whatever it was, I’m glad you did it.” He told him, kissing him softly.

 

They stood together for another 20 minutes, just watching Amelie sleep and being together. Eventually however they both knew they had to go back to the party. Both leaning down to give Amelie a quick kiss goodnight, they turned and walked back downstairs hand in hand.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Blaine had been dreading Kurts graduation for months. He knew it was selfish of him; he should be happy for his boyfriend and the fact that he would finally be able to get out of this backwards little town, but all he could think of was the fact that after graduation came Kurt leaving him and going off to college. It didn't matter to him how many promises Kurt hand made in the past year, Blaine knew that when Kurt got to New York and found out there were gay guys out there that didn't come with the baggage Blaine had he would lose his boyfriend. 

 

As he sat in the auditorium with Burt and Carole, Amelie having been left at home with a visiting Cooper, he found his thoughts wandering back to where they had been nearly a year ago, back when he first brought Amelie home. Should he break up with Kurt before he moved to New York? Set him free so he could find his happiness? He couldn't decide if that would be selfish or selfless. If he did it, Kurt would be free to find someone who could give him everything he wanted and Blaine would be spared the pain of Kurt ending things further down the line. But if he didn't, maybe they would make it. He loved Kurt and Kurt loved him and just maybe, he and Amelie could be enough to make Kurt happy and Kurt could make them happy.

 

He was bought out of his thoughts by the sounds of the ceremony starting. There were speeches and presentations and Blaine let most of them wash over him because all he really cared about was Kurt. Finally, they started presenting the diplomas to the seniors on stage. One by one they came forward to be congratulated by Principal Figgins and other faculty members, they received their diplomas and they fell back into line. And then, with a final performance from the senior glee club members it was over and Blaine realised that this was it, no more barriers. Kurt would be leaving him soon. The realisation hit him like a freight train. Sure he'd known it was coming all year but now it was actually happening and he was terrified. He made his excuses to Burt and Carole telling them he felt ill and slipped away quietly before any of his friends could come find him.

 

Cooper and Amelie were sitting on the floor of the family room playing with a vast array of toys when Blaine got back to the Hudmel house. Blaine didn't even comment on the mess, just dropped down next to them and pulled Amelie into his lap, holding her like he was afraid she would disappear. Cooper watched him, his concern growing for every minute they sat in silence. Eventually after about 15 minutes of silence, Amelie having fallen asleep in her daddy's arms, Cooper decided enough was enough.

 

"Everything okay buddy?" he asked him. 

 

Blaine just shrugged. "Kurt graduated." he whispered, "he's going to leave me now. I'll have no one again." without deciding to talk, Blaine found his mouth running away with him, telling Cooper everything, all his fears about Kurt finding someone else, moving on, forgetting all about Blaine. To his surprise he also found himself admitting that he wasn’t sure he could raise Amelie on his own, Kurt had done so much over the last year, whether they had bothered to put a label on it or not, Kurt did just as much parenting as Blaine did and it scared him that Kurt was going to leave Blaine to cope with her alone from now on. Then came the one had been in the back of his mind since the day he moved in here, that if he and Kurt were to break up, Burt and Carole would ask him to leave meaning he would have to give up Amelie and have the heartache of losing everything. Cooper sat patiently listening to his brother talk. When he finally finished, Cooper didn't have a clue where to start but eventually settled on the one thing which all of Blaine's fears rested on. 

 

"Has he actually told you he's leaving?" Cooper asked, knowing firsthand about Blaine's tendency to jump to conclusions.

 

"I helped him with his application for NYADA Coop, he's going."

 

Cooper opened his mouth to reply but was stopped by a voice coming from the doorway. 

 

"Just because I applied doesn't mean I'm actually going."

 

Blaine's head whipped round to see his boyfriend standing in the doorway.

 

"Kurt..." he paled as he saw Kurt standing there watching him. Kurt was never supposed to hear any of that. Blaine was honestly proud of his boyfriend and was happy for him and he never wanted him to hear his stupid fears. 

 

Kurt stalked toward Blaine, gently taking Amelie from him and setting her down on the floor next to Cooper before pulling Blaine to his feet and wordlessly dragging him from the room.

 

Not a word between the two was spoken until they were safely ensconced in their room upstairs. Kurt pushed Blaine down into the bed before slipping his shoes off and joining him. The two of them automatically fell into their usual position, curled up together sitting against the headboard. When they were comfy, Kurt started talking.

 

"Why didn't you tell me how you were feeling?" He asked softly, a hint of accusation in his tone. 

 

"I did." Blaine answered petulantly, knowing what Kurt really meant and trying to avoid the question.

 

"No, I know you told me you were scared I would find someone else and I meant it when I told you I don't want anyone but you." Kurt answered firmly. "But I want to know why you didn’t tell me the rest of it, stop trying to avoid this and answer the question."

 

Blaine closed his eyes, trying to calm himself before speaking.

 

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to stay for me."

 

He paused, waiting for Kurt to speak. As silence stretched on, Blaine found himself compelled to continue.

 

"I knew if I told you it was Amelie I was worrying about that you would stay. But you deserve to get out Kurt, you shouldn't be stuck here, you're so much better than Lima Ohio. I want you to be happy, and if that means you need to leave us then as much as it kills me, I'll let you go."

 

When Blaine finished speaking they were back to sitting in silence before eventually Kurt broke it.

 

"I didn't get in."

 

The one sentence was spoken with a total lack of emotion and Blaine found himself frozen in place as it registered with him. He was torn; he wanted to hug Kurt tight, tell him how sorry he was, offer to help him look at all the alternatives but there was a small part of him doing a crazy happy dance in his head and for that he felt extremely guilty. Instead of speaking Blaine decided it was best to keep his mouth shut thinking it was probably best he didn't speak right now. He simply pulled Kurt closer to him and kissed the crown of his head tenderly while they sat in silence.

 

It was at least five minutes before Kurt spoke again.

 

"I'm not upset." he told Blaine, his voice muffled in his boyfriends shoulder. "I thought I was but when I walked through the front door and heard you talking to Cooper I realised I'm really not. I'm disappointed; I gave that NYADA audition everything, Carmen Tibideaux loved it and I really don't understand why they rejected me, but I'll apply again next year and I'll make sure I have a backup then too. In the meantime, I'm going to stay here with you. I'll get a job, scrape together some savings for college, I'll look after Amelie for you while you're doing school stuff. Maybe I'll even take a few college classes at Ohio State. And next fall you and me and Amelie will all go to New York together, just like we planned only with a few alterations. We'll make it work and we will be together."

 

Blaine pulled back slightly to look his boyfriend in the eyes, smiling at the look of total honesty and excitement he saw there.

 

"Are you sure?" He asked, not wanting Kurt to do anything just for him and Amelie.

 

"I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life." Kurt answered with an honest smile.

 

Blaine's face brightened as he felt a weight lifted from him. He hugged Kurt tightly,

 

"You're amazing. I love you so much Kurt Hummel." he told him earnestly. 

 

"I love you too." Kurt answered him before kissing him tenderly.

Over the course of the summer, Kurt and Blaine said goodbye to one friend after another, waving them off to college with a succession of farewell parties until eventually, only Kurt and the remaining members of New Directions remained. Blaine considered auditioning for a summer job at six flags once again but quickly decided against it when he realised he wouldn’t be able to juggle working with child care. Burt quickly came to the rescue, placing the offer on the table that he was willing to pay Blaine to do the books for the shop for him, knowing that Blaine was in all the advanced math classes at McKinley and figuring that doing the books was something Blaine could do at home while looking after Amelie. It didn’t hurt that he hated that task either, he was perfectly happy to pay Blaine to do it if it meant he could get the task off his hands. 

 

As Kurt had suggested to Blaine the day of his graduation, the older boy registered to take a couple of classes each semester at OSU. He had been lucky. With a bit of help in the form of a glowing letter of recommendation from Mr Schue describing what a talented and person he was and how he had overcome so much, he had managed to convince the admissions board to let him take a couple of modules from the theatre program in Columbus. It would mean a long commute for him but it was only one day a week and it would go a long way to helping his application for NYADA when he re-applied. He had also agreed to work for his Dad two days a week, answering the phone in the office and booking cars in and out in order to give the mechanics more time to work on them. The other two days a week he watched Amelie while Blaine was at school, taking great delight in watching the little girl grow up day by day. All in all he was pretty happy with the way things worked out, he even found himself feeling almost glad that he didn’t get into NYADA.

 

The year quickly flew by and before they knew it, graduation was upon them again, only this time, it was Blaine’s turn to stand up on that stage and leave his childhood behind him. The day before Blaine was due to graduate high school; Kurt woke up early and slipped out without Blaine knowing. He'd always said he wouldn't meddle but Blaine was only going to graduate high school once and Kurt didn't want him to have any regrets.

 

His arrival on the Anderson's Doorstep was perfectly timed; late enough to be respectable and not seem rude but still early enough to catch both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson before they went to work for the day. His voice shook as he explained why he was there, that Blaine would be graduating tomorrow and Kurt knew what would mean more to him than anything would be if his parents were there to see it. Mrs Anderson was dubious, pointing out to Kurt how badly things had gone the last time they had seen Blaine and asking if Blaine even knew Kurt was there. Kurt was quite proud of himself for successfully dodging the question, merely stating the fact that Blaine still loved and missed them. The Andersons knew this of course, having received an email from Blaine each week since Amelie’s first birthday updating them on everything and providing photos and videos of him and Amelie. The one thing he had never done however was invite them to see him. Not at a performance, not meeting for dinner and certainly not inviting them to graduation. Secretly they had both been ready to accept Blaine’s decision for a while now however they refused to admit defeat. They were waiting for Blaine to come to them. They didn’t tell Kurt this of course and when he left he still didn't know if they would be at McKinley the following day, but at least he had asked. The ball was in their court now.

 

The following day dawned bright and sunny however the atmosphere in the Hudmel household was anything but. Amelie sat in the middle of the kitchen floor in nothing but her underpants, screaming at the top of her voice. Carole was trying to ignore her, moving round the kitchen making breakfast for everyone, Kurt and Burt had vanished off somewhere at the crack of dawn without telling anyone where they were going and Finn was miraculously still fast asleep in bed. Blaine was in the family room telling off Cooper for sparking Amelie’s tantrum in the first place.

 

"I just don't understand why you don't think before you speak Coop! He yelled. "she's two and a half years old and she Idolises you, of course she's going to remember when you tell her she can wear her princess dress to my graduation ceremony!".

 

Cooper just rolled his eyes at his little brother and sighed. "I just don't get what the problem is Blaine. She’s just a kid and that dress is cute on her. Everyone will think she's adorable, just let her wear it!"

 

Blaine growled low in his throat. "The problem is that that dress hasn't fit her for about two months now. You gave it to her for Christmas 6 months ago! She’s growing every day! Kurt and I have managed really well at distracting her every time she's asked to wear it since Easter but now you've suggested she wear it she won't let it go. So unless you can find a way to magically produce the same dress in a bigger size by the time we have to leave here at 11am, I suggest you go in there and try to calm her down because I don't even know where to start!"

 

Coopers response was cut short as a bleary eyed Finn appeared in the doorway.

 

"Dude, what's up with Amelie, I don't think I've ever heard her scream so loud." He asked, wincing as the screams increased in volume even while he spoke.

 

"Someone," Blaine emphasised, glaring at Cooper as he spoke, "suggested she wear the dress he gave her for Christmas to my graduation ceremony."

 

Finn frowned in confusion. "I though she grew out of that months ago?" he asked.

 

"She did." Blaine told him shortly. "Which explains why she is now screaming because Daddy had to say no."

 

Copper sighed in resignation. "Okay, I'm going. I'll try and calm her down." he looked at Blaine sheepishly. "Is there anything specific you want her to wear? I'll try and compromise with her."

 

Blaine and Finn exchanged a look; both knowing that compromise wouldn't work but also both eager to see Cooper suffer a little like they had to. "Make sure she's not going to be too cold or too hot and make it appropriately dressy." Blaine finally instructed his brother, shooing him from the room.

 

"Good luck!" Finn called after him, a hint of laughter in his voice.

 

By the time Kurt and Burt got home, the screaming had stopped although Amelie's room closely resembled a war zone. Every item of clothing she owned had been taken out of the dresser and closet and discarded around the room as Cooper tried desperately to get her to agree to an outfit. Blaine stood in the doorway watching his brother and his daughter with a smile on his face. He knew he should be getting ready for graduation and that he should probably be mad about the mess Cooper was making that he would surely have to clear up later, but there was something about watching the two of them together that he found comforting. It showed him that at least there was a part of his old life connected to his new one.

 

“What on earth is going on here?!” The shrill sound of his boyfriend’s voice drew him from his musing and he turned to see Kurt standing behind him, staring in horror at the mess that was Amelie’s room.

 

Cooper looked up at Kurt sheepishly from where he was trying to convince Amelie she wanted to wear a bright yellow and lime green monstrosity that Finn and Rachel had given her for her Birthday. Blaine thought he had managed to hide that dress in the back of the closet somewhere so his daughter would never have to be subjected to it but evidently Cooper was really desperate to find something.

 

“I’m dressing Amelie?” Cooper’s response sounded more like a question than an answer to Blaine. Kurt was evidently having none of it however.

 

“You aren’t dressing her, you’re making a mess. A mess which you will be tidying up later.” Cooper nodded his head obediently and Blaine found himself laughing at how Kurt seemed to have Cooper under his thumb every bit as much as Blaine himself was there.

 

Kurt produced a bag from behind his back and threw it to Cooper. “Try that, I think she’ll probably agree to wear it.” Cooper peered into the bag before looking up at Kurt in confusion.

 

“I thought Blaine said it didn’t fit?” He asked with a frown.

 

“It doesn’t.” Kurt answered him. “Dad and Carol have been talking about buying her a new one ever since she outgrew the one you got her for Christmas. When you brought it up last night we all knew what would happen so Dad and I went out to pick it up this morning. We had to go all the way to Columbus for that; be grateful.”

 

Cooper lifted the dress out of the bag and held it up for Amelie who immediately smiled brightly, squealed like only a two year old can and flung her arms around his neck before letting him put it on her. Blaine stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around Kurt from behind and pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

 

“Have I told you recently that you are the most amazing boyfriend in the world?” He asked softly as he watched his big brother dressing his little girl. 

 

Kurt just grinned. “It never hurts to hear it again.” He answered teasingly. “But I can’t really take the credit for this one. It was Dad’s idea, he just made me go with him to make sure he got the right one in the right size.”

 

“Well remind me to thank your Dad later.” Blaine pulled away from Kurt with a sigh. “Now I really need to get myself dressed. Want to come help?”

 

“Do I get to pick out your clothes?” Kurt asked, his face brightening as Blaine nodded in affirmation. “Excellent, lead the way Mr Anderson”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Do you think they will come?” Kurt asked Cooper hesitantly as they took their seats in the auditorium at the school, waiting for graduation to begin. 

 

Blaine had already left them to find the rest of New Directions so they could practice their piece for the ceremony one last time. Convincing Blaine to stay in glee club the past two years had been difficult however Kurt had insisted that Blaine needed something in his life which he did for himself and not for Amelie and singing, performing, was it. The rehearsal schedule around competition time was tough but he had Kurt and Carole and Finn and Burt, all of whom were willing to babysit as often as they could. If they couldn’t do it then there were some of his old Warbler friends willing to help out and when Cooper was in town, which over the past couple of years had been far more regularly than it used to be, he was willing to look after his niece as often as Blaine would let him. So Blaine managed and he was pleased to be able to say that as a member of New Directions he had now won not just one but two National Show Choir Championship Titles. Given the circumstances, he was very proud of the achievement.

 

“I think so.” Cooper answered him, twisting in his seat to look at the door. “They sounded like they were seriously considering it when I asked them last night. I think the email from Blaine asking them to come was what tipped it.” 

 

Kurt nodded his head, glad that Blaine had swallowed his pride and invited his parent’s. He figured they might be more positive about an invitation directly from Blaine than one issued by Kurt on Blaine’s behalf. He just wished he’d known Blaine had decided to invite them before he’d been to visit them the previous day.

 

“What are you boys talking about?” Burt asked gruffly from where he was sitting on Kurt’s right, Amelie in her new dress sitting on his lap playing with the tiara she’d adorably asked Burt to put in her hair before they left. They had all known it wouldn’t stay there until they got to school but no one had the heart to say no to her, and it did look sweet with the dress.

 

“Blaine sent our parents an invitation to come to graduation this afternoon.” Cooper told Burt and Carole. “We’re just wondering if they will bother to turn up.”

 

“I think they might.” Carole answered with a nod towards the auditorium doors at the rear of the room. 

 

Kurt and Cooper both swung round to look, immediately spotting Christopher and Eleanor Anderson entering the hall nervously. Kurt fidgeted distractedly, while Cooper sighed and rose to his feet. “I’d better go say hi to them.” He mumbled, excusing himself before walking over to his parents. 

 

Kurt watched like a hawk as Cooper greeted both his parents with hugs, talking to them for a few moments before bringing them down to where Kurt and his parents were sitting. As they approached the end of the row and Cooper slid back into his seat, his parents taking the empty seats next to him, Amelie decided she’d had enough of Burt and squirmed out of his lap and into Kurt’s. She pointed at Eleanor Anderson sitting next to Cooper and in a loud voice she asked,

 

“Who ‘dat?”

 

Kurt opened his mouth to answer before realising he didn’t know what to say. He and Blaine had talked the previous evening about Blaine’s invitation to his parents and Kurt had admitted that he had paid them a visit, knowing Blaine was likely to find out eventually any way but they had never discussed how they should be introduced to Amelie. Now he thought about it, he realised they really should have put some thought into that. Kurt didn’t want to say the wrong thing and hurt the Andersons however at the same time he didn’t want to confuse Amelie. Kurt sat like a deer in headlights, trying to speak but not knowing what to say. The Andersons in the meantime were in a similar situation, staring in shock at the little girl in Kurt’s lap not sure what to say or do.

 

“Papa!” Deciding she’d gone too long without an answer, Amelie tugged hard on Kurt’s collar and demanded his attention.

 

Loud gasps of surprise rang from both Mr and Mrs Anderson as Kurt smiled down at her automatically. Papa was a relatively new addition to Amelie’s vocabulary and it still amazed him to hear her call him that. He didn’t think she’d ever done it in public before. He fixed the tiara on her head, an accessory which she had insisted on wearing to go with her princess dress, trying to buy himself some time before he answered her question. Thankfully Cooper came to his rescue.

 

“This is my Mommy and Daddy.” He told Amelie. “They’ve come to hear your Daddy sing just like you.”

 

Amelie, not understanding the meaning of the word shy, grinned up at them brightly and waved her hand. 

 

“Hi!” She called to them, squirming in Kurt’s grasp.

 

Mr Anderson recovered first, waving back at her with a gentle ‘Hi’. Amelie’s smile brightened and she was immediately trying to wriggle out of Kurt’s grip so she could go and see her new friends. Kurt’s panic increased as he realised he didn’t know how Blaine would feel about this. He quickly distracted Amelie.

 

“Hey, Princess? Why don’t you go with Uncle Finn to find Daddy and say good luck?” He asked her, successfully pulling her attention away from the Anderson’s who were watching sadly.

 

“Daddy!!” Amelie shouted excitedly, reaching her arms up for Finn to carry her.

 

Finn swept her up out of Kurt’s grip, having a silent conversation with his step brother as he did so. Without a further word to anyone, he edged his way out of the row past Cooper and his parents and headed off to find Blaine.

 

With Finn and Amelie gone, Kurt suddenly found himself afraid to look at the Andersons. He was aware that they didn’t have a leg to stand on. They had been the ones to shut Blaine and Amelie out and they had no right to be upset if Amelie was calling him Papa now, but it didn’t stop him from being scared of their reaction.

 

“Kurt?” Mr Anderson’s voice broke through Kurt’s thoughts and he looked up at him, expecting to see disgust or hatred but instead seeing only compassion and awe. “You’re really good with her.” Mr Anderson told him, a hint of surprise in his voice. 

 

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. “I just copy what Blaine does. He’s amazing with her.”

 

Mr Anderson nodded his head with a soft smile on his lips. “So I’m told.” He looked at his oldest son almost guiltily.

 

Kurt took a deep breath, opening his mouth to speak before closing it again, not quite knowing what he wanted to say.

 

“What is it Kurt?” Mrs Anderson asked him.

 

Kurt sighed deeply before starting to speak slowly, wording what he wanted to say carefully. 

 

“When I came to see you yesterday, I lied.” He thought about it before backtracking, “Well, I didn’t lie so much as I evaded the truth. At the time, Blaine didn’t know I was there and had he not decided by himself to send you that email last night I have no idea how I would have explained this to him. But he does miss you, every day.” He closed his eyes, hoping with all his heart that Blaine wouldn’t hate him for what he was about to do. “It’s been nearly 2 years now since you threw him out; I would have thought by this point you would have realised he’s serious about this. I know you don’t approve of his decision to raise Amelie but you’re wrong. He’s already proven that by getting to today. He’s graduating High School and for all of Junior and Senior year he’s been a full time parent. And yes, before you say anything he has had help, but he’s had no more help than any other parent does. Blaine needs you in his life, but he’s scared to come to you and tell you that because he’s convinced that you are ashamed of him and that you don’t want him unless he’ll give up Amelie, which in fairness I think is because you told him exactly that. I’m not asking you to forget the past two years happened or to welcome Blaine and Amelie home with open arms, I’m just asking you to give them a chance. Let them in. Blaine deserves to have his parents and Amelie deserves to have her grandparents. If you care anything about him, you’ll try and fix this before it’s too late and he’s gone from your lives forever.”

 

Kurt didn’t wait to see if the Anderson’s had a response to his rant. He merely stood up and left the auditorium in search of the one person who could make everything better.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kurt found Blaine with the rest of New Directions plus Finn and Amelie sitting in the choir room. The room was fairly noisy, the underclassmen all gathered around the piano warming up for their performance while the seniors in the group straightened their robes, took pictures together and reminisced about the last four years. Blaine sat cuddling Amelie tight to him while Finn sat awkwardly next to him. Kurt knew from Blaine’s body language that Finn had obviously told Blaine his parents were here. 

 

“You okay?” Kurt asked, sitting on the step next to Blaine

 

Blaine just nodded, looking up at Kurt curiously. “What happened?” He asked.

 

Finn crept away, heading back to the auditorium to take his seat as Kurt and Blaine spoke.

 

Kurt shrugged. “Nothing really. Amelie called me Papa in front of them; I think they were a little shocked. I gave them a bit of a lecture. Told them to work out what they wanted with you before it was too late and do something about it. I hope I wasn’t overstepping.” He worried his bottom lip between his teeth nervously.

 

Blaine shook his head with a slightly hysterical laugh. “It’s okay; I’ve been wanting to say something like that to them for years. He looked up, releasing his hold on Amelie a little. “Thank you Kurt.” He said earnestly. “Thank you for pushing me to invite them. Things are going to change today. I can feel it. I’m going to graduate, I’m going to sort out things with my parents, and then the three of us are going to start our lives together.”

 

“You, me and baby makes three?” Kurt asked with an uncharacteristic and slightly hysterical giggle. 

 

“Exactly.” Blaine answered him before handing over Amelie. “Now, will you two go and sit down? I’m about to graduate and I need my two favourite people there to see it!”

 

Kurt scooped Amelie up with a smile. “Yes sir.” He answered with a mock salute before turning and marching out of the room carrying a giggling Amelie with him.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The graduation ceremony went off without a hitch. Kurt and Amelie got back to their seats just as things were starting meaning Kurt didn’t have to worry about what to say to Mr and Mrs Anderson. Half way through the ceremony the little girl got bored of sitting with Kurt and decided it was time to see her Uncle Cooper. Kurt kept stealing glances out of the corner of his eye, watching Blaine’s Mom as she pulled faces at her granddaughter, making the little girl giggle. By the time Blaine’s name was announced and he came forward to collect his diploma from Principal Figins, Amelie was sitting in her grandmothers lap, playing with a brooch pinned to her cardigan in fascination. As Blaines name was called, the Andersons and the Hudmels all stood as one, cheering and clapping. Mr Anderson didn’t hesitate before swinging Amelie up into the air so she could see her Daddy. Kurt watched his boyfriends face, noticed the exact moment he spotted them and realised who it was that was holding Amelie up. The resulting smile was the biggest and brightest Kurt had seen from his boyfriend in nearly two years. 

 

After everything was over, the group all headed for the Choir room to meet Blaine. The Andersons hung back, not sure if their youngest son would want them there when all his friends would be around. Surprisingly it was Burt who noticed their hesitation and encouraged them to come along.

 

“I’m not sure he’ll want us there.” Eleanor Anderson told Burt. “Today is supposed to be a happy day for him, we don’t want to ruin it.”

 

“He wouldn’t have invited you if he didn’t want you to come.” Burt told them bluntly. “He would be more upset if he knew you’d left without speaking to him.”

 

The Andersons looked at each other, silently debating what to do before Christopher Anderson smiled gratefully at Burt. 

 

“I guess you should probably lead the way then.” He said with a nervous smile. 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Blaine stood in the corner of the choir room, arm in arm with Kurt, seemingly watching his daughter waddling excitedly from one person to another, soaking up as much attention as she could get from the many occupants of the room. Kurt however hadn’t missed the fact that Blaine’s eyes kept darting to the doorway, hoping to see his parents appear in the doorway. 

 

“Don’t worry, they’ll be here.” He told him calmingly. “You should have seen them during the ceremony. They were completely besotted by Amelie. And they looked so proud when your name was called.”

 

“I know,” Blaine answered softly, “I saw them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad look so proud of me before.” 

 

“Of course he’s proud of you Blaine, we all are. You did it. You’ve graduated and you got into your first choice of college and we’re moving to New York and you did it all while raising a toddler on your own. You’re amazing, why wouldn’t we be proud of you?!”

Blaine smiled gratefully at his boyfriend before sucking in a sudden breath as the very people he was both looking for and dreading seeing appeared in the doorway. Kurt felt Blaine’s breath catch as he saw them before Blaine dropped his arm and started moving to his parent’s, his body on autopilot. Kurt continued to watch, a soft smile on his lips as the three Andersons exchanged a few words before falling into a hug, Blaine held tight by both his mother and father. 

 

“It’s about bloody time.”

 

Kurt turned to see Cooper standing behind him, also watching Blaine and their parents with a relieved smile on his face. As they watched the trio separated and Blaine led his parent’s over to where Kurt and Cooper were standing. 

 

“So?” Cooper asked expectantly, “Are we all friends again?”

 

“Don’t be cheeky Cooper.” Christopher Anderson answered sternly, “You’re not too old for me to put you over my knee.”

 

Kurt tensed, not sure how to take Mr Andersons words however neither Blaine nor Cooper seemed phased and Mrs Anderson merely hit her husband playfully on the arm. “Pay no attention to him Kurt.” She told the boy reassuringly. “He’s all talk; he couldn’t hurt a fly if he wanted to.” She turned her attention back to Cooper, “We are going to work on it.” She told him honestly. “We’ll be okay in time.”

 

Blaine smiled gratefully at his Mom and was about to speak when Amelie waddled over, holding her arms up to Blaine wanting to be picked up. Blaine didn’t hesitate before bending down and scooping her up in his arms, holding her close as she slipped a thumb into her mouth and rested her head on his shoulder, the excitement of the day getting to her.

 

“I think someone is ready for a nap.” Blaine said, running a hand soothingly through her hair.

 

“No nap.” Amelie pouted cutely, the effect of her words completely lost when they were immediately followed by a yawn.

 

“Yes nap.” Blaine answered her firmly before looking up at his parents. “I need to take her home and put her down for a while or she’s going to be cranky for the rest of the day.” He paused, not wanting to say goodbye to his parents yet but not knowing if it was too soon to ask his next question. Luckily Kurt realised what he was thinking and he voiced the words Blaine couldn’t bring himself to say for fear of rejection.

 

“We’re all going out for dinner later on. Would you like to join us?” He asked them before looking at Blaine, hoping he’d done the right thing. Blaine just smiled at his boyfriend reassuringly before looking up at his parents hopefully, seeing the indecision on their faces  
.

“I would really like it if you would come.” Blaine told them earnestly.

 

Mr Anderson smiled at his youngest son reassuringly. “If you want us there, we’ll be there.” He told him, clapping his hand on Blaine’s shoulder the way Blaine had seen him do with Cooper many times. Blaine felt a warmth settle in his heart, knowing that things were back on track now. He had everything he could ever need and a bit more besides. He had an amazing boyfriend who he loved with everything he had and the most beautiful daughter in the world whom he wouldn’t give up for anything. He had two brothers in Cooper and Finn whom he knew would always have his back. He had the most supportive and compassionate surrogate parents that he could ever have hoped for in Burt and Carole, he had a big group of friends who between them were experts in just about any subject he thought he may ever need advice on and now, finally, he had his own parent’s back. Like his Mom had told Cooper, things weren’t perfect yet. But Blaine knew they would get there and right now that was all he needed.


End file.
